The Royal Protector
by The Eternal Winter
Summary: AU Star was sent to Saint Olga's instead of Earth. At Saint Olga's she slowly loses her individuality as she is forced to become a perfect princess. Marco Diaz is just a average teenage boy living on earth. Eventually fate leads to a destined meeting and Marco is forced to protect a Broken Princess and lead the fight against the forces of evil. Marcoxharem primarily Starco.
1. Divergent Beginnings

**Disclaimer- I do not own Star vs The Forces Of Evil.**

* * *

"NOOOOOOOOO!" Star screamed as she held onto the hem of her mothers dress. "I can be good I swear. Please don't send me to St. Olga's reform school for wayward princesses!" She pleaded as she imagined the horrors of the school.

"Now sweetheart please calm down." Stars father, King Butterfly soothed. "We've done our research and have been assured of the institutions quality. She has even said that once you pass basic orientation you will be allowed to practice magic there until you are experienced enough to return home."

That didn't soothe Star one bit, she pleaded with her parents to have mercy and send her anywhere but St. Olga's but the two of them had made up their minds about the issue.

"Relax and compose yourself Star." Queen Butterfly soothed. "We aren't sending you alone. Glossaryck will be with you to look out for you the same way he watched over me when I was your age." She gestured to the small floating blue man next to her, but the strange being didn't reassure Star one bit.

Little else was said as Star was loaded into the Royal Carriage and sent to Saint Olga's. As Star looked out at her home from the carriage window she couldn't help but imagine all the horrors of the school she was going to.

None of the things she imagined were as terrible as what truly awaited her.

* * *

Deep in the castle of Mewni lay the Hall of Reflection, also known by some as the Ancestors room or Grandma room. It was a room dedicated to each and every Queen who had ever ruled Mewni all the way back to its founding.

Moon Butterfly was sitting in a large armchair at the center of the room and was gazing at an almost empty space on the wall. A magical loom was slowing sewing a tapestry that would show an image of her daughter Star Butterfly. The tapestry would change depending on what type of Queen Star would be.

Would she be a conqueror? A Diplomat? A Tyrant? The answer would never be obvious as the tapestry changed depending on ones life. Queen Eclipsa's tapestry had shown her as a just ruler until she had run off with a monster. At which point it had completely changed. The only thing consistent with each tapestry was Glossaryck who had the same pose and expression upon each one.

Moon looked at her own image which had remained unchanged since she was a young adult. An image of her defeating an Immortal monster using her darkest spell. The greatest accomplishment of her life forever immortalized.

She hated the image more then any other.

She would never be known as a philosopher or a peacemaker but rather as a warrior who's greatest accomplishment was that of violence. She knew it didn't have to end the way it did, there had been alternate paths to avoid that great battle, other choices she could have made. But they came at a cost she wasn't willing to pay.

She gazed at the image of the monster, a memory from her past, there was a time where a possible peace had been at her fingertips. "If only you had been more reasonable." Moon muttered at she gazed at the image of him with his finger severed, a look of absolute shock etched on his face. "The day I showed you that no one is Immortal."

She would be forever known as Moon the Undaunted, a title many would have enjoyed but one she despised. She looked once more at her daughters tapestry, it was only a tiny shred of cloth with no distinguishing features. She could only hope that Star would be able to succeed where she had failed all those years ago.

"I knew I would find you in here." An all too familiar voice called out. Moon turned around and saw her husband walking into the room, his facial expression unusually serious for a man who took joy in everything.

"Not now River, you know that when I'm in here I wish to be alone." Moon stated as she focused on her daughters tapestry.

"Well I wish I had my daughter with us right now but we cant always get what we want." River replied gruffly as he stood next to his wife. "I don't like it, sending her off to that place."

"Neither do I, but what else are we supposed to do?" Queen Butterfly questioned.. "Dark times lie ahead of us and the Kingdom needs someone to rule it should anything happen to us. We have only one child and the entire Kingdoms future lies on her shoulders. We cannot take risks, I shudder to think what will happen if Star fails to become a proper ruler…."

"She will be a magnificent ruler." The King interjected. "She has a strong will and a good heart."

The queen had to resist scoffing. "I know that River, but a good heart isn't going to hold this kingdom together. Our population grows and we don't have enough land to grow enough corn to feed them. Our borders cant expand without expanding into the swamps and forests which would run the risk of uniting the monsters and triggering a war. Not to mention all the nobles who are sitting back and waiting for something to go wrong so that they can openly question our leadership."

The King turned and faced his wife. Even as she grew older his wife looked as beautiful as the day he met her, not showing a bit of age on her body. The only part of her that grew older were her eyes, and as he gazed into them now he saw that she was old in spirit. The crown was a terrible burden for her to bear.

"I know these are hard times but you mustn't be so negative." King Butterfly soothed. "New agricultural tools will ensure the best harvest we've had yet, our armies have never been stronger, and despite the bickering of the nobles our people are content."

"A idealistic outlook on things." Moon retorted. "We must always assume the worst River, especially when the fate of an entire kingdom is at stake. Tough decisions have to be made."

"I still don't like sending her away. We could have had instructors on Mewni teach her to be a princess." The King responded.

"We tried that for the last fourteen years of her life River." She said, her voice betraying frustration. " Besides having her far away from here is for the best. I don't like the idea of her practicing magic recklessly in the wilds, nor do I want her failings to be publicly known. It will make people question her capabilities as the future queen."

"So we sacrifice our daughters life here on Mewni for appearances sake?"

"We all have to make sacrifices." Moon Butterfly stated as she placed a hand on her husbands shoulder in an attempt to console him. "Besides I think you are worrying too much about all this. I've asked around from numerous other royal families who claim that its a fine institution and that their daughters came back happy and content."

That didn't soothe King Butterfly much. "Well lets hope we made the right decision." King Butterfly said as his thoughts lingered on his only child going to a far away reform school.

"Its better then her being here...he is still out there." Moon said as she gazed at her own tapestry.

"He learned his lesson and if he ever shows his face Ill show him what for!" River declared as he glared at the lizards representation. "You destroyed his finger, that leaves plenty left for me to crush."

"Its not just that." Moon replied. "Its Star I'm most worried about. With how reckless she is I fear for what type of Queen she will become. Our people may not realize it but our civilization has reached a point where it will either flourish or fall. I fear our daughter will assume power during our peoples darkest hour. I can feel it River and it frightens me."

River put a comforting hand on his wife's shoulder as he joined her in watching their daughters tapestry slowly form itself.

* * *

"Another year of the same." Marco Diaz muttered to himself as he sat in his schools homeroom waiting for the final bell to ring.

School had only started a few weeks ago and he was already sick of it, a sentiment his classmates seemed to share. All of them were either zoning out or sleeping as they waited for the days end. Even their teacher Ms. Skullnick was paining her nails instead of teaching.

Marco couldn't help but let out a tired sigh. It was only a few weeks into the year and already things were looking down. School and life in general had become so routine it was almost torturous.

Throughout his fourteen years of life he had always played things safe. Whether that be always using crosswalks or wearing a helmet in the locker room shower since the floors in there tended to be slippery due to a lack of proper sanitation. Being known as the 'safe kid' put him at the very bottom of the schools hierarchy which left him little in the way of friends. Being the safe kid meant he was never invited to parties or included in anything his classmates were doing.

He thought this year would be different, he couldn't help but feel like a change would come into his life that would make people see him for the misunderstood bad boy he knew he was rather then the never take chances safe kid.

" _Marco Diaz to the Principals office, Marco Diaz to the principals office."_ The all to familiar voice of the school principal called out over the schools intercom.

Marco had to resist jumping up and doing a dance of joy. Finally something he could use to prove to his classmates he wasn't the safe kid anymore.

"Ohhh looks like someones in trouble." Marco stated happily as he got up out of his desk chair. He walked up to the front of the class and turned to all of his classmates. "So I guess everyone who voted me safest kid must be feeling pretty embarrassed right about now."

Marco leaned over to where Miss Skullnick was paining her nails. "So do I need a hall pass or should I-"

"Will you just go already!" Miss Skullnick yelled angrily, making Marco immediately run out of the classroom and towards the principals office.

On his way there he began to wonder what he could have done. He didn't remember doing anything bad or even worth getting in trouble over. The only explanation was he was being blamed for something that wasn't his fault.

"Well if I take credit for something I didn't do it would still make me seem like a troublemaker." He thought out loud as he reached the principals office. He walked inside and found the principal sitting behind his desk as usual. What surprised Marco was the fact he wasn't alone, two chairs sat opposite of his desk both holding people that Marco recognized instantly.

The schools resident outcasts Janna and Oskar who both looked extremely unhappy to be in the principals office.

"Marco my boy, punctual as always." The Principal Skeeve's stated happily. "Please sit down and get comfortable because I have amazing news."

Marco followed the mans instructions and took a seat next to his fellow students. "I'm proud to say that we've decided to make you a student mentor." The principal stated happily drawing a look of confusion from Marco.

"Student mentor?" He questioned, confused by the principals words.

"That's right." Skeeve's responded. "In order to get more funding our school needs to shine as a beacon of education. We need to ensure that all of our students pass their classes and don't get held back. So the board decided on a student mentor ship program where the very best and brightest students mentor the more...challenged students." He explained, picking his words carefully. "The school board asked me to try this idea out and I could think of no better person to assign as a mentor then you my boy. Perfect grades, perfect attendance, and voted the safest kid in the school. You were practically born to reform trouble makers."

Marco shook his head. "No you got it all wrong, I'm a misunderstood bad boy." Marco claimed, trying to look tough and intimidating.

"You're adorable." The principal responded pinching Marcos cheek like he was a baby. "Janna has been in detention everyday since the school year started and Oskar Greason here has the worst attendance of any student we've ever had. I need you to improve their grades and make sure they stay out of trouble."

"Wait you expect me to change them? How-" Marco was cut off by the principal.

"There's only a half hour until the school day ends so Ill let the three of you leave early. I recommend bonding since the three of you will be spending the rest of the school year together." He said as he closed the door to his office.

Marco looked at his two new charges and felt a bead of sweat trickle down his face. Oskar was a slacker but overall laid back guy while Janna….

"So you're the one who's in charge of _reforming_ me eh?" Janna asked as she slid up to Marco's side. "I gotta warn you, I'm a _bad_ girl who needs to be _disciplined_ constantly." She purred as she leaned on Marco, causing the boy to blush.

"Very funny Janna." Marco responded as he pushed her away, trying to hide the effect her words had on him. Ever since they were in kindergarten Janna had enjoyed teasing him endlessly and now she was going to be by his side for the entire year under his mentor ship.

"So like...what do we do?" Oskar asked as he adjusted his keytar. "I only agreed to this because my mom threatened to send me to military school if I didn't go through with this dumb program."

Marco looked at his two charges and couldn't help but sigh.

"This isn't going to be easy..."

* * *

For the first time in her entire existence Star hated her life.

She had always loved being a princess, the nice rooms, always having food, and having an entire castle at your disposal was wonderful. She also loved fighting monsters and spending all her days having fun. Even during the darkest periods of growing up she could always find a reason to be positive and enjoy life.

That all changed the second she had set foot in Saint Olga's reform school. She had her wand taken away and locked up for 'safe keeping' as the Headmistress had said. Glossaryck was locked up in a small cage in her room to ensure he didn't interfere with her reform education.

The education was worse then she could have imagined. Etiquette classes, tea drinking practice, boring dance classes, sewing classes, and every other boring princess thing imaginable all being taught in the worse way imaginable.

The lack of sunlight or any type of calendar made time become an abstract illusion to Star. Days turned into weeks, and weeks into months until she couldn't even remember how long she had been at the school. She had no contact with the outside world whatsoever and there were no fun activities there was only conformity.

She held onto her individuality as much as she could, hoping to manage to maintain a shred of it when she left. But with each grueling day she felt more and more of it slip away.

After an unknowable amount of time had passed she had reached the breaking point. She had failed every single class in the entire school from dancing to animal musical numbers. The worst students in the school who were deemed either too reckless or beyond teaching were sent to the solitary conforment chamber. After only a few days they were brought back out as model princesses. Mere shells of their former selves.

It hadn't been that long ago that her best friend Princess Pony head ended up in Saint Olga's with her. Pony Heads natural rebellious and bad girl nature meant she had been sent to the chamber after only a few weeks of classes. She had come out as a shell of her former self. It had to have been brainwashing. Seeing her friend reduced to that made Star try her best to pass the classes to avoid such a fate but she simply couldn't conform even when she was trying to.

Usually she would have tried a daring escape but for the first time in her life she was too afraid to do anything. Saint Olga's had always been something she feared and being here made her feel weak and useless.

"What do I do Glossaryck?" Star asked as she turned to a cage next to her bed that held the small blue man.

"Have you considered trying to escape?" Glossaryck asked as he laid on the bottom of his cage. In all his years of existence being imprisoned had never happened to him before so even he was in unfamiliar territory. The cage sealed off his magic, a amazing feat for a being who was entirely composed of the stuff. Usually he could shatter most containers that tried to hold him but with his magic suppressed he was helpless.

Star glared at the little blue man. "That's your advice? This place is impossible to escape from. There's a small army of guards, a tower that negates dimensional scissors, and they took away my magic wand."

Glossaryck let out a tired sigh. "I already explained to you that you can do magic without your wand. You just have to dip down." he stated, trying to make Star understand. "Besides you don't even need magic. The Star I watched growing up back on Mewni didn't need magic to beat up monsters."

"This is different." Star sadly stated, looking at the ground. "Being here is….its like its sucking the life out of me. There's no color, or fresh air, and the classes are making me lose myself. I can barely even remember what Mewni was like. Plus if you fail trying to escape the punishments are probably awful beyond words."

Glossaryck let out a sad sigh. "Look Star, I know this place is messing with your head but you have to hang in there. Your parents would want you to stay strong and resist this place."

"My parents?" Star questioned, her tone growing angry. "Their the ones who sent me here! They wanted a perfect selfless princess who would twirl, curtsy, and drink tea like a royal puppet. They sent me here because they hated who I am and wanted to change me!"

"That's not true." Glossaryck responded. "They just wanted you to be more responsible. This place wasn't supposed to be like this. You were supposed to take some basic etiquette classes and be free to train with your magic in a safe environment. Your family loves you Star."

"My family?" Star asked as she stared out of her barred window at the perpetual rain that seemed to fall upon the school.

"I have no family."

* * *

Marco Diaz looked outside his homeroom window and let out a tired sigh as he waited for class to finish. It had been two years since Marco had become a student mentor to Janna and Oskar and a lot had changed in that time.

Marco had managed to transition Janna and Oskar from being slackers into slackers who manage to barely pass classes. After months of tutoring and nagging he managed to get Oskar and Janna to pass most classes with a C- grade and have somewhat decent attendance which made him a successful student mentor in the eyes of the school faculty.

He technically could have stopped hanging out with them after the first few months after his obligations had been fulfilled. But as he mentored them he grew close to the two troublemakers and they soon joined his group of friends alongside Alfonzo and Ferguson.

He had known Janna since kindergarten but his interactions with her were sporadic at best. She only seemed to give him any attention when she wanted to tease him, borrow something, or prank him. Memories of her giving him a valentines day card filled with itching powder came to mind. Hanging out with her consistently turned out to be fun and he was happy to have her in his group of friends. Even if she still teased him and pulled pranks on him. She was still a weirdo in many respects such as being obsessed with the macabre and all things strange. But Marco cared about his occult loving friend even if he would never admit it to her.

Oskar Greason was the last person Marco thought he would ever get along with much less consider a friend. But the musician surprised Marco greatly. While he was a lazy guy with a record he was also extremely nice and willing to help out others.

Marco would often get angry at Oskar due to how many girls he managed to attract with his boyish charms and musical skills. He thought Oskar was a heartbreaking tool since he either ignored or rejected his female classmates advances. That is until he learned that Oskar Greason was more interested in the attention of his fellow male students did Marco finally understand why he ignored female students.

The addition of Oscar and Janna into his group of friends made life more interesting. Usually Marco, Alfonzo and Ferguson's idea of a fun night was playing video games, watching movies, or simply playing tabletop games. Janna and Oskar shook up the dynamic by making them go out and sometimes get in trouble. Trouble that Marco would have to bail them out of.

His new friends also had a great effect on him over the last two years. They forced him out of his comfort zone often which made him take more risks and adding a bit of danger into his life. He was still known as the safe kid among his fellow peers but he was no longer the loser he was back when he was fourteen years old.

Physically he had grown taller and stronger in the last two years. He had a growth spurt freshman year that made him taller then many of his peers. He also took his karate seriously and manged to get his red belt after helping out his sensei in finding a certain videotape, he had even used the rest of those tapes to advance to a black belt within a year. He still took karate classes since there was always more to learn but he also began taking part in other activities such as kendo, fencing, and other extracurricular to keep himself busy.

Marco was broken from his reflections by the school bell. The day was over and his classmates scrambled for the exit. Not wanting to get caught up in the melee Marco simply trailed near the back and casually left his homeroom at a sedate pace.

After depositing his books into his locker he walked to the school parking lot where his ride was waiting for him. Oskar Greason was in his usual spot, chilling out on the hood of his car and playing his keytar. Marco had to admit that Oskar had gotten better at it over the years and people no longer ran away from him when he played. He had also traded in his old car for a newer one that had four seats to accommodate everyone.

"Hey Oskar." Marco called out as he walked up to Oskar's car. Oskar raised his hair and lazily looked over to his friend.

"Sup Marco." Oskar answered as he put away his keytar and got off his cars hood. "Where are the others?"

"Doing all the work as usual." Janna's voice called out as she approached the car with Alfonzo and Ferguson in tow. "Or did you forget about the fact that we have been planning the biggest event of our teenage lives?"

"You doing work?" Ferguson asked incredulously. "You're only job today was to make the invitations to our Halloween party. The rest of us have been preparing the stuff for it."

"Not to mention paying for it." Alfonzo added sullenly looking at his empty wallet.

"I've been working!" Janna countered. "I just don't do well with manual labor, which is why we have you two around to take care of it."

"You spoiled little gypsy..." Ferguson muttered as the two began to argue with one another.

"Fat tub of lard!"

"Spoiled princess!"

"Blubber boy!"

"Communist!"

"That doesn't even make sense!"

Marco let out an aggravated huff at his friends argument. "Enough!" He called out breaking up the fight before it could continue. "This whole situation is stressful enough, if things break down now months of planning will be wasted. This is going to skyrocket our popularity if we can pull this off, not to mention be a memorable moment in our teenage lives."

That managed to settle everyone down allowing Marco to pull out a list of things that were needed for the party. "Okay lets make sure we have everything we need. Invitations?"

"Made them all today in the computer lab." Janna stated proudly as she held up an invitation. "Everything people need to know in a stylish package. I made them black with orange letters, I also put in a jack-o-lantern devouring children to show its going to be one cool party."

"A bit graphic but I guess it is a Halloween party." Marco said as he looked at the macabre invitation. "Next is food, Oskar whats the status on the food?"

"I talked to my buddies downtown and I got us the hookup on pizza, and all manner of junk food." Oskar said as he lazily played his keytar. "I can have it all delivered a half hour before the party starts."

"Ferguson and Alfonzo you were on decorations."

"We got it bro." Ferguson said happily. "We got all the stuff and we even got a sweet sound system. Things are gonna get wild."

"And last but not least the most controversial and dangerous of the things we need..." Marco paused dreading his own words. "Alcohol, and once again I have to protest this part of the party. We're only sixteen and the legal drinking age is twenty one."

"Boo buzzkill Marco." Oskar stated. "Its that attitude that makes everyone think you're the safe kid. There are teens our age doing all kinds of crazy stuff like hard drugs or crime and you get worked up over a tiny bit of booze."

"Seriously Marco lighten up." Janna said, walking over to Marco's side. "Lots of fun stuff can occur when alcohol is involved, the type of stuff you probably fantasize about doing with Jackie when you are having your _special time_."

Marco turned red and pushed Janna away. "I don't fantasize about Jackie!" Marco defended, trying to hide his blush.

"Who do you fantasize about then? Is it Brittney? Lots of guys like her since they have that yellow fever. Or maybe its Sabrina, you are always helping her out when she gets injured. There's also Hope, or maybe its _me_?" Janna was silenced by Marco placing a hand on her mouth.

Janna's response was to stick her tongue out and give Marcos hand a big lick which made the boy withdraw his hand in disgust.

"Gross Janna! Do you have any idea how much germs a human mouth has?" He questioned as he reached into his hoodie and produced a small bottle of hand sanitizer and began using it to sanitize his hands.

"Whatever Diaz, you know you love it."

Marco rolled his eyes at her antics. "As I was saying before we got way off topic, bringing alcohol to my house is risky. I'm not sure if we should go through with it." He interjected hoping to change his friends minds.

"Dude its the only thing that will even bring people to the party." Ferguson argued. "We aren't exactly the coolest kids around. We need a carrot on a stick to get people to come over. The only carrot good enough for our class is beer, unless you want to try getting a hold of drugs or something."

"Never mind, alcohol will do." Marco muttered, sad at being defeated so easily. As much as his safe side wanted to protest he knew that without a hook their party would bomb badly. Normally he would have objected more and been more adamant against the idea of a party like the one they were planning but he knew he had to go through with it. He didn't want to go through all of high school as the safe kid. Not tomention he would prbably be a virgin until he was forty if he kept this streak up.

"But maybe we shouldn't have the party at my house..."

"Your parents are away for a week on a cruise." Alfonzo argued. "You have a large empty house and if anything goes wrong we have several days to clean up. The stars have aligned for this Marco, its our one chance."

Marco accepted his friends points. "Fine but I'm going to put some money aside for cab rides. I don't want anyone getting hurt on their way home." he said before choosing to move on. "So how are we set up for alcohol?"

"I managed to get us two kegs." Oskar proudly said. "Snagged them from the back of a liqueur store, they were past their expiration dates and were about to be thrown out."

"That's stealing and not to mention dangerous if those kegs are past expiration."

"Its salvaging, they were going to throw it away anyway. Also expiration dates are arbitrary and people will be too drunk to care about whether a keg is two weeks past expiration." Oskar argued. "I got them in my car, I'll drop em off at your place tonight."

"I managed to snag a bunch of micro brews from my dad." Janna said proudly. "He gets so drunk on his days off that he didn't even miss them, he just assumes he drank them all. So I got dozens of assorted micro brews for the people with a more sensitive beer palate."

"Alfonzo and I managed to score a dozen bottles of hard liqueur. We got enough vodka and tequila to mix things up all night long." Ferguson bragged.

Marco nodded and noted all of that down. "How did you manage that one?"

"We paid a homeless guy to buy it for us." explained Alfonzo. "We would have had more but we had to promise the guy several of the bottles to get him to buy the rest for us. He knew how to run a hard bargain."

"Well that's immoral and horrifying." Marco muttered. "But at this point we are at the point of no return."

"Oh relax Diaz be a little bad for once in your life." Janna urged. "Besides morality is relative."

Marco ignored Janna and moved on to the final phase of the plan. "Alright all that's left is who we give out these invitations to. If we give them to everyone that will increase the chance of someone spilling the beans about us having a party like this. On the other hand if we're too selective we'll have a low turnout."

"As long as we don't give it to any buzzkills we'll be fine. Tonight's football game will be the best chance of giving out the invitations." Oskar pointed out. "We give them to people who are cool and to people we trust and tell them to bring along other cool people. As long as we avoid the snitches we'll be fine."

"Don t worry about that. At the bottom of the party invitations I wrote _snitches get stitches_." Janna pointed out. "Now lets get going, we've got a party to plan."

* * *

It had been two years since Star was sent to Saint Olga's and things had taken a turn for the worst.

The endless boring classes, the lessons, and propaganda the reform school used to strip away a princesses individuality was torturous beyond words. Star was amazed she managed to put up with it for two years.

But it was all over now. Her progress in her classes had been slow and her naturally rebellious spirit shone through. Now Star found herself strapped to a chair in the social conforment chamber and was awaiting her fate.

Miss Heinous was in the room looking at the Mewman princess as the blond girl struggled against her bonds.

"You really should feel honored Princess Butterfly." Miss Heinous began as she paced around the room. "This chamber has been upgraded significantly over the last year. Our old method was simple brainwashing. The results were crude but satisfactory, but with this latest model we will finally succeed in making the perfect princess and you get to be the first of many."

"Hooray." Star answered sarcasm evident in her voice. "Maybe you could use it on yourself so you can stop being the biggest cunt in the multiverse."

"Enjoy using those curse words while you can Miss Butterfly." Miss Heinous answered not even batting an eye at being insulted. "This new procedure inst merely brainwashing. We are going to cleave your mind, the very fabric of who you are in two."

"You're going to give me a lobotomy?!" Star screamed as she began to fight against her restraints. Her hands and feet began to turn red as she fought against the metal braces that bound her to the chair but all she succeeded in doing was hurting herself.

"Cease your pointless struggling." Heinous ordered as she watched the Princess injure herself in her escape attempts. "Its not a lobotomy, we would never do something so crude here. We are going to cleave your mind, or in simpler terms we are going to split your personality into two separate parts. One part will be the embodiment of all princess like virtues. Selflessness, kindness, loyalty, nobility, purity, patience, and humility. While the other half with be the embodiment of all things a princess doesn't need such as anger, lust, envy, greed, selfishness, etc etc."

Miss Heinous pushed a button on the chair that Star was strapped to and several more metal latches wrapped around the girl. "Once your mind has been split in two its a simple matter of burying the negative personality deep into your subconscious, leaving behind a princess who embodies true perfection."

Star didn't like the sound of that one bit. "You're all insane, when my parents find out about this they will come for you."

"They'll never know." Heinous responded matter-of-factly. "Once we turn you into the perfect princess a few memory spells will make you believe that the time spent here was the greatest time of your life. Royals will pay a fortune to have their children sent here when they see what a perfect princess you are going to be. You might even someday send your own daughter here to enjoy the education we offer."

The thought of that made Star horrified beyond words. She didn't struggle or scream but she stewed in a bottomless ocean of pure rage. She glared at her captor and promised herself that she would die before ever becoming this reform schools poster girl.

Miss Heinous activated the device. Stars eyes were forced open with specialized wires, and a large projector screen appeared in front of her. The screen had an image of an older woman with a large hat on display.

" _A proper hat for the even lest you be a malcontent."_ A overly cheerful voice echoed throughout the room.

Another image appeared this time of a woman playing tennis.

" _Everyone will admire a princess that does not perspire."_

Images continued to flicker on screen along with the voice echoing etiquette lessons.

"Ill leave you to your lessons." Miss Heinous stated as she began to walk out of the room. "In a few days you'll be perfect."

Star watched the woman leave and promised herself that she would get revenge.

"I will not lose myself...not until I've burned this place to the ground."

* * *

"This is gonna be a bloodbath." Janna stated as she ate popcorn while watching the football game unfold in front of her.

Currently Janna, Oskar, and Alfonzo were sitting in the Echo Creek High School bleachers watching their team face off against The Warriors, players from a rival high school. Every year the warriors kicked Echo Creeks ass and this year appeared no different as both teams lined up to face each other.

"I'm just here for the eye candy." Oskar pointed out as he watched the two teams of athletic young men tackle each other. "The wonderful eye candy..."

"Same here, although I think we have different tastes." Alfonzo responded as he watched the Echo Creek cheer leading squad attempt to distract the enemy team with their booty-shaking dance moves. A strategy that never worked but also never failed to capture the male student bodies attention.

"Do you see Marco or Ferguson anywhere?" Janna asked as she gazed around the field. Her two friends absences were understandable. Ferguson was the team mascot and was currently dancing around the field alongside the cheer leading squad, while Marco was a Nurses assistant. These games had tons of injuries and Marco would help the medical team with any injuries the players received.

"Just Ferguson making a fool of himself again." Oskar said as he watched his friend do a possum dance that resulted in the costumes pants falling down revealing his undergarments. "Wow I really didn't need to see that. Wish I had some mind soap right about now."

"Same here." Janna and Alfonzo responded as they watched Ferguson attempt to right the lower part of his mascot costume.

As the game went on Alfonzo got up. "I'm gonna go to the bathroom." Alfonzo announced as he walked over to the restroom. Leaving Janna and Oskar alone.

"Here comes the cheerleaders, now we wait for the failure." Janna pointed out as the Echo Creek cheer squad lined up and began forming a human pyramid. In the middle of their stunt someones strength gave out and the pyramid collapsed causing a massive pileup of people as several cheerleaders were buried under their fellow cohorts.

"Looks like its Marco's time to shine." Oskar stated as the medical personnel ran over to help the cheer squad out. As the two teens watched the chaos unfold Oskar reached over to grab a handful of popcorn from Janna's bucket only to have his hand slapped by the girl who stood a constant vigil over her snacks.

Oscar glared at her through his bangs. "Sharing is caring Janna." He muttered as he glared at his friend.

"I bought it so its mine."

"Marco bought it for you!"

"Your point?" She asked as she shoveled some of the popcorn into her mouth.

Oskar huffed angrily as he focused his attention back onto the cheer leading squads tragedy. He watched as the medical team focused on Brittney the squad captain exclusively while Marco was focused on Sabrina who seemed the most injured.

Oskar looked around and saw that they were fairly isolated, being at the far end of the bleachers giving them a great deal of privacy. He looked at Janna and saw her eyes were focused solely on Marco, the young teen was currently inspecting Sabrina's ankle and assessing it for injuries. "You know that he wont be single forever."

"Shut up."

"I'm saying this as a friend." Oskar began as he locked Janna's gaze with his own. "He isn't going to be unpopular forever, people are beginning to notice him changing. A year ago we never would have been able to convince him to attend a party but now hes going to be hosting one. Hes coming out of his safe little shell and a lot of girls are going to like what they see."

"I said shut up." Janna reiterated, her tone growing angry. She was angry because she knew he was right. She had always had a bit of a crush on Marco ever since they were kids. She enjoyed teasing him and flirting with him to no end. She didn't know when her crush developed into actual feelings but she knew that she cared deeply about the safety obsessed boy and wanted to be more then friends with him.

"Making me shut up wont change facts Janna. I'm not saying this to make fun of you or to make you uncomfortable." Oskar stated with genuine concern in his voice. "Until two years ago I never had any friends, I convinced myself it was fine and that all I needed was my keytar to be happy. I used to act cold and distant to people because I was afraid that if they saw the real me they would be disgusted by me the same way my Mom is."

Oskar lifted his hair and looked Janna straight at her. "Until one day I was forced into a student mentor ship program. The program was lame but the people I was forced to hang out with were cool. They didn't judge me and they forced me to be social. When I finally came out to them about who I was instead of the rejection I was expecting they accepted me for who I am."

Janna felt uncomfortable, it was rare for Oskar to speak about stuff like this since the boy was usually so quiet. "What does all that have to do with anything?"

"It means that I like my friends a great deal and I want them to be happy." Oskar stated. "You need to tell Marco how you feel because if you don't it'll tear you up inside and I don't want you to pull away from us. Several girls have begun noticing him and the main reason he is hosting the Halloween party is because hes looking for a chance to confess to Jackie."

"I know." Janna answered. "I always figured I would have all the time in the world." Janna muttered sadly as she gazed at Marcos form across the football field. "I thought I was special since I was able to see him for what he truly was while others only saw a safety obsessed loser. But now..."

Janna cursed herself for her own weakness. She could flirt with any guy or girl to no end and flirted with Marco constantly. He never thought anything of it since she had done it to tease him since they were kids. Despite how easy flirting came any attempt to express her true feelings had her choking up and stuttering. Trying to show true emotion to Marco Diaz caused her no end of anxiety and nervousness.

"This is so fucked up." Janna muttered. "I love my best male friend who himself is crushing on my best female friend to the point where he doesn't notice any other girl." Janna turned to Oskar. "Not to mention Jackie is downright gorgeous." Thinking about her best friend made her grow sad. Jackie was everything she wished she could be, confident, beautiful, and the object of Marcos desires.

She needed a confidence boost.

"Oskar tell me I'm pretty."

"If I was straight I would take you in a manly fashion."

"Because I'm pretty?"

"Because you're pretty."

* * *

Across the field Marco Diaz was inspecting Sabrina's ankle after yet another predictable cheer leading accident. Accidents always seemed to happen during games and Sabrina in particular was clumsy and seemed to be on the receiving end of most injuries that occurred at Echo Creek High school.

"Does this hurt?" He asked as he felt the girls ankle.

Sabrina winced and nodded. "Yup it hurts right there, buts its not too bad."

"Nothing broken, most likely another sprain. You got to stop doing this to yourself Sabrina." Marco chided in a well meaning tone. "You barely recover from one injury before getting another, you need to take a break from cheer leading to let your muscles rebuild themselves and grow stronger."

Sabrina rolled her eyes. "Ill be fine Marco, especially with you always taking care of me." She said in an attempt to lighten the mood.

"Well as much as I enjoy helping people we need a stretcher to move you off the field." Marco turned to where the coach and other health professionals were. "I'm going to need a stretcher over here!"

Marcos call for help was ignored as every single adult faculty member was crowded around Brittney Wong who had been at the top of the human pyramid when it had fallen. Currently the medical team was patching up a small cut Brittney had gotten on her lip and a small scrape on her knee.

"If this messes up my face I'm going to have my Daddy sue this worthless school!" Brittney screamed as one of the staff was looking at the small cut.

Principal Skeeves who was standing nearby began to hyperventilate. "Quickly everyone get her to the infirmary before she sues us all!" He ordered, the fear of a lawsuit overcoming him.

All of the staff got Brittney loaded onto a stretcher and took her to the nurses office, leaving Marco as the only one around who could help Sabrina. "That's just perfect. No stretcher."

"So I'm to just stay here forever?" Sabrina questioned rhetorically.

Marco looked around and saw that there was no one else but him who had medical training. All the staff had left, the football game had resumed ,the cheer squad returned to their cheering and all his fellow students were far too busy to even notice him.

"Guess we have to improvise." Marco muttered as he picked Sabrina up bridal style, doing his best to be gentle in an attempt to avoid aggravating her injury.

"My Hero..." Sabrina purred in an overly dramatic tone.

"Haha very funny Sabrina." Marco responded, thankful his fellow classmates were too busy focusing on the game to notice him carrying Sabrina. "You and Janna should hang out and discuss ways to tease me."

"A tempting proposition Mr. Diaz I might have to run that by Janna."

"Please don't." Marco tried his best remain calm and collected but it was rather difficult when he was essentially carrying on of the prettiest girls in class. The fact she was wearing a very revealing cheer leading outfit didn't help things one bit. "This is all Brittney's fault, everyone has to be at her beck and call. Has the entire faculty tending to her scraped knee and cut lip."

Sabrina was tempted to leap to Brittney's defense but chose to bite her tongue and be silent.

Eventually Marco brought her to the sports utility room that led to both male and female locker rooms. The room was bare save a few sports equipment storage lockers and several benches. Marco settled Sabrina down on one of the benches and prepared to treat her ankle which was already showing some signs of minor swelling.

Right when he was about to treat it Sabrina moved it away from his hands much to his annoyance.

"Sabrina don't move your ankle until I'm done." He said as he brought out a tube of pain reliving ointment. "If I don't rub this in it'll swell and hurt like heck for the next few hours."

"Ill stay still but you have to do the thing."

"The thing?'

"You know what I'm talking about Marco." Sabrina said mischievously. "Do the Dr. Diaz impression and Ill hold still."

"No way." Marco retorted. "I hate doing that impression and I'm the one who's treating you, if anything you should be thanking me right now."

Sabrina rolled her eyes. "Come on, they say, laughter and good vibes are the best medicine and your impression will cheer me right up."

Marco decided to give in since he wanted this all to be over with as quickly as possible. Two years ago Sabrina had fractured her right leg during cheer leading practice right before a big game. Several boys had failed to catch her during a big practice jump during one of their training sessions. She had been confined to a wheelchair and it had been his job to push her to her classes since they went to the same classes.

One day she had broken down into tears at not being able to go to cheer practice and she feared being kicked off the cheer squad. During one of their talks as he wheeled her to class Marco remembered how Sabrina had mentioned she loved Spanish soap operas and tried to cheer her up by doing an over-the-top soap opera performance by impersonating a stereotypical soap opera doctor. His impression made her laugh so much that she used every opportunity she could to get him to do it again much to Marcos annoyance.

"If I do this you have to promise to take it easy until your ankle is healed. Deal?" He asked in an attempt to get something out of this situation.

"Deal." Sabrina agreed. "Now take it away Dr. Diaz."

Marco took up a dramatic pose. Sabrina, mi amor, has sido mordida en la rodilla por una Serpiente del oeste del rio Nilo. Si no me dejas curar tu herida, me remo que sufriras un terrible caso de amnesia irreverisble." He stated in an over the top manner that made Sabrina burst out laughing. He leaned down and began to treat her ankle. "Ahora, mi amor, quédate quieta mientras te curo, no sea que el veneno pueda reclamarte. Si nos demoramos llegaremos tarde a la boda de mi malvado hermano gemelo con nuestra media hermana."

He rattled off a few other soap opera lines in Spanish as he continued treating her as she giggled away at his impersonations. Marco finished treating Sabrina's ankle and had it wrapped up nicely by the time the girl stopped giggling. "There all better, now promise to stay off it and be sure to stretch it once the swelling goes down to ensure your muscles can rebuild themselves."

"Thank you Dr. Diaz." Sabrina replied happily as she wiggled her ankle around to test how constraining the wrapping was. Finding it comfortable and the pain in her ankle quickly fading she set her foot down.

Finding himself alone with Sabrina made Marco realize that he had the perfect chance to advertise his party. "Hey Sabrina I was wondering if you could do something for me..." He said as he reached into his red hoodie. After several seconds of searching he pulled out an invitation to his party. "I know its short notice but I was wondering if you could come to my Halloween party? Maybe spread the word about it, you can bring anyone you want."

 _You are invited to Marco Diaz's Halloween Party_

 _There will be tons of food and all the beer you can drink_

 _Starts at 6pm and goes on all night long_

 _Address is 216 Maple Drive_

 _As for anyone who wants to rat us out, remember that snitches get stitches._

Sabrina took the invitation and looked it over. "You guys are going to have beer?" She asked, genuinely surprised that someone like Marco would have a party like this.

Marco rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "Well...yeah...I've put a lot of effort into this party. I really want to show everyone that I'm not the safe kid anymore. Sabrina your one of the popular girls I was wondering if you could spread the word and maybe help get some people to come over?"

Sabrina hesitated for a second, she liked Marco a lot. Probably more then any other boy her age. However she did her best to avoid showing any true signs of friendship to him in public. As much as she hated herself for it she did care about the way her peers looked at her and as far as the school food chain was concerned Marco and his friends were near the bottom.

' _But with a party like this all that could change.'_ Sabrina thought to herself as a plan formulated in her head. If she sold this right she could help in raising Marcos social standing in the school and if that happened maybe they could…

Sabrina shook those thoughts from her head and focused on Marco. "I can get the football team and the cheerleaders to come to your party but Ill need you here to help sell this." She stated as she pointed at the invitation. "Brittney is your main problem, if she doesn't go then none of the cool kids will show up."

"Then I'm doomed, she hates my guts." Marco moaned in despair. Brittney had hated him ever since kindergarten, there was no way she would ever agree to come to a party of his no matter how cool it seemed.

"Not exactly." Sabrina stated, raising Marcos spirits. "Justin is Brittney's boyfriend and he is the captain of the football team. He loves parties and loves drinking, if you can get him to agree to come to your party Brittney will have to come along. She will never admit it but shes afraid of disagreeing with Justin publicly since she wants to maintain the image that they have a perfect relationship."

The two sat on the bench and discussed his upcoming party and made other small talk. The game would be over soon and both the cheer squad and the football team would enter the room before heading into their respective locker rooms. After fifteen minutes of waiting with Marco and Sabrina exchanging small talk the doors swung open and a very battered football team entered the room.

"We might have lost 68 to 0 but we played our best." Justin stated as he walked into the room and looked at his teammates. "We just have to practice even more and toughen up for next season. The Warriors will never know what hit em!"

The defeated team let out a loud cheer and began to high five each other. Justin turned around and saw Marco and Sabrina sitting in the entryway. "Yo Sabrina hows the ankle?" Justin asked as he walked over to the two of them. "Diaz here been taking good care of you?"

"Yup he says Ill be back to cheer leading in no time." Sabrina answered happily. She elbowed Marco in the side to encourage him to talk to Justin. _'Do it now while hes alone. Otherwise Brittney could change his mind.'_ Sabrina whispered to Marco as she pushed the boy forward.

"Hey Justin I was wondering If maybe you'd be interested in coming to be Halloween party this weekend?" Marco asked as he held out an invitation to the tall blond haired jock.

Justin accepted the invitation and looked it over. "You seriously gonna have beer?" Justin asked amazement evident in his voice.

"Ugghh yeah." Marco answered nervously. Marco knew Justin wasn't a bad guy. As far as jocks went he was downright nice but he was still a popular teen in the schools social food chain while Macro was a bottom feeder. "There's going to be lots of pizza, we got two kegs, some vodka, tequila, and even a few micro-" Marco couldn't finish his sentence before Justin put him in a headlock.

"Looks like good old Safe Kid Marcos has learned to take risks!" Justin stated as he gave Marco a noogie. "Makes me proud, its like seeing a little brother grow up. Heck yeah Ill go to your party, me and the rest of the team could use a good party after tonight's game. Right boys?!" Justin asked to the rest of the football team who had been watching the interaction.

"Hell yeah!"

"Free beer!"

"Party at Diaz's!"

Everyone's cheers were silenced by the door to the room slamming open revealing brittney flanked by the rest of the cheer squad.

"I don't see why you idiots are cheering, you got slaughtered out there just like every year before." Brittney complained as she walked through the crowd of football players. She laid eyes on Marco Diaz and immediately frowned. "What are doing here Diaz? This room is for football players and spirit committee members only."

Marco was about to defend himself by pointing out that as a medical assistant he had every right to be here but Justin intervened before he could speak up.

"Don't be like that babe." Justin soothed as he wrapped an arm around his girlfriend. "Marco here was just helping Sabrina out with her ankle and giving us an invitation to the party of the year." He handed the invitation Marco had given him to Brittney.

The girl looked it over and scoffed. "Sorry but I don't go to parties hosted by losers." She stated as she tossed the invitation away.

Marco wanted to plead his case and beg her to reconsider but he was more angry then anything. She had been a bitch to him since kindergarten. It was a testament to his self control that he didn't lose his temper but rather decided to use his knowledge of psychology to manipulate her.

"Don't sweat it Brittney I understand." He stated calmly, surprising everyone. "You're a good rule abiding girl with perfect grades, perfect attendance, and a perfect reputation. A party like mines just too risky for you and I can respect that, I wouldn't want you risking your perfect reputation just to have some fun."

Brittney's head didn't literally explode but her face was so red you could be forgiven for thinking it was going to. "I'm not a safe kid loser like you." She declared stubbornly.

"Then you'll have no problem coming to my party." Marco answered. "Justin and the rest of the football team are excited for it. Right guys?"

Brittney watched as all the jocks nodded vigorously and gave positive declarations. She even saw her boyfriend already had his mind made up. It was times like this that she hated Justin, he was buff, handsome, and an idiot. She didn't want to disagree with him publicly, they were a popular power couple and it would be bad if students saw them fighting so she decided to go along with whatever game Diaz was playing.

"Fine Dorko Diaz, Ill come to your party." She stated drawing cheers from the football team. "But it had better be a good party otherwise I'm declaring you a loser for life."

"Don't worry about that Brittney, this party is going to be amazing." Marco declared surprised at his own confidence. "I just hope you can handle it because things are going to get crazy. Now who wants an invitation?" Marco asked as he held out the invitations. Everyone in the room scrambled for one and he managed to give them all out.

As everyone went to their respective locker rooms he was left alone with Brittney who had stayed behind.

"You better watch yourself Diaz. Trying to raise your popularity is a dangerous game." She stated as she glared at the Hispanic teen.

Marco gave her a sly look. "Well its a good thing I like a little danger in my life. See you in three days Ms. Wong." he said as he walked past her and out of the building. He could feel her glaring at the back of his head but he kept his cool and walked away without looking back. He walked across the football field to the parking lot where he saw his friends waiting for him by Oskar's car.

"Did it go well?" Oskar asked as he hopped into the drivers seat of his car.

"Got the entire football team and cheer leading squad to come and they'll no doubt bring along all the other cool people." Marco stated proudly as he sat down in the back seat. "How about you guys, did you have any luck?"

"Don't worry we gave them all out." Alfonzo proudly stated as he got into the passenger seat with Janna and Ferguson squeezing into the back seat with Marco. "Janna managed to get practically every girl in our class to come over."

"Nice one Janna, did you manage to get Jackie to accept?" Marco asked anxiously.

Janna had to resist grimacing at Marcos excitement over Jackie. "Of course, it would be pretty bad if I couldn't get my best female friend to come to a party I'm helping host." She replied as she tried her best to act casually.

"Those fine ladies are gonna be glad they came to our party." Ferguson stated proudly. "Because now they can get to be in the presence of Gods gift to all woman. They'll be thanking their lucky stars they came."

"That's funny because I'm a lady and I don't feel very lucky." Janna replied.

"I said _fine_ ladies which you are not-OW!" Ferguson yelled as Janna punched him in his arm.

Marco grabbed Janna before she could hit Ferguson anymore. "Relax Janna, Ferguson was just kidding. Isn't that right Ferguson?" Marco asked giving his friend a knowing glare.

"Yeah Janna I didn't mean it." Ferguson muttered. "You're very pretty its just your personality that needs work OW OW OW!" Janna hit him multiple times again forcing Marco to wrap both his arms around the girl to keep her under control.

"Calm down back there!" Oskar called out as he looked into his rear view mirror. "Otherwise you'll be walking home."

"The worst part is she keeps hitting me in the same place." Ferguson mumbled as he nursed his arm which would no doubt be bruised. He looked over at Janna and saw that Marco had wrapped both his arms around her in order to stop her assault. It made it look like he was lovingly embracing her. "And if you two are going to get that close you might want to find a room."

When Marco realized what Ferguson was referring to he immediately let Janna go. "Sorry Janna." Marco apologized as he pushed himself against the car door. He was expecting Janna to make a sexual joke or to tease him like she normally did but it never came.

Janna for her part couldn't bring herself to make a joke like she normally did. She simply gave Ferguson one last punch in his arm before staring at her lap. Her earlier discussion with Oskar had brought up a ton of emotions she wasn't ready to deal with.

' _At the party before he can talk to Jackie...Ill tell him then.'_ Janna promised herself as she got lost in her own mental plans of how she would manage it.

Marco noticed Janna's faraway look and assumed that Ferguson's insults had hurt her feelings. He pulled out his phone and quickly typed in a message. A few seconds later Ferguson felt his phone vibrate and looked at the screen.

 _M: Look at what you did, you hurt her feelings._

Ferguson's looked across the car and saw Marco giving him an angry glare. He typed back his own message.

 _F: I already apologized. Besides we always exchange insults, its part of how our friendship works._

 _M: Well clearly you hurt her feelings._

 _F: I'm not the one who's hurting her._

 _M: What are you talking about?_

 _F: Nothing Captain Oblivious._

Ferguson put his phone away and made it clear he wasn't interested in texting anymore.

Marco put a comforting arm around Janna but the girl pushed him away. He decided to simply leave his female friend alone with her thoughts. The car settled into an uncomfortable silence.

Eventually everyone was dropped off at their respective houses. Marco waved goodbye to Oskar as he drove off into the night leaving Marco alone in his driveway. He reached into his pocket and looked for his house keys only to find them missing.

"Janna..." He muttered as he got a spare hiding under a rock in his parents cactus garden. He had given the girl her own set of keys a year ago but she still stole his for laughs. He opened his door and entered his empty house, his parents had left for their cruise two days ago and wouldn't be back for a long time.

He was tempted to start preparing for the party but he found himself exhausted by the days events and simply took a shower and got ready for bed.

He laid down and stared at the ceiling, despite the fight at the end of the night he couldn't help but smile. His party was going to happen and his plans were in motion.

"The party will be awesome and Ill finally have the chance I've always wanted to talk to Jackie." Marco said dreamily as he imagined the scenario. He would get her on the balcony, engage in small talk, and finally ask her out on a date. He looked over to his closet and knew his secret weapon lay in there, an object that would give him the confidence and charm needed to woo Jackie.

He imagined numerous scenarios of how his party would go, measuring the likelihood and creating numerous plans.

Little did he know that no amount of planning would help him for what was to come.

* * *

 **Authors Note**

 **This was a challenge by a bunch of people on a /co board. Write a Star vs fic with a plot that was also a harem.**

 **Challenge accepted.**

 **I do not advocate underage drinking. Fun fact-All those ways the gang got their booze is the way I used to get it, some homeless people know how to haggle. Wait till your 21 kids.**

 **Primary pairing is Starco. Originally this was going to be a pure Starco but I decided on a harem fic because of the challenge and the fact that there really isn't any in this section and because there are plenty of great Starco stories already in existence. Also keep in mind that just because this is a harem fic doesn't mean Marco is going to get every single girl. There will be character development and genuine reasons for each relationship he develops so don't expect much until later in the story.**

 **Ill probably write a pure Starco at a later date.**

 **Some notes. According to the creators Twitter Oskar is 16 in the series making him 2 years Marco and Stars senior. I changed this for the plots sake and because the show is vague on it and Oskar is drawn the same as the others despite being older.** **I made Oskar gay because I cant think of any reason a 16 year old male would be uninterested in a magical girl like Star when she is basically throwing herself at him. You would either have to be gay or have had a lobotomy to not love Star. Also it made it easier to give his character a bit of depth.**

 **Updates will vary, I have another story to work on and Im recovering from a bad injury.**

 **Please leave a review and let me know what you think. Ill do my best to answer questions in a PM or an authors note.**


	2. When Fates Collide

**Disclaimer-I do not own Star vs The Forces of Evil.**

* * *

"How are we doing Princess Butterfly?" Miss Heinous asked as she entered the chamber where Star was still strapped to a chair. It had been two days since she began the social reforming process on the girl and things were proceeding slower then she would have liked but they were making progress. After two days the girls mind has broken into two parts, one embodying her princess like virtues and the other embodying all the negative virtues. Now it was only a matter of burying the negative personality into the girls subconscious.

"I am doing fine Headmistress, a princess maintains her poise no matter what the situation." Star answered in a dignified tone.

"Very good, no negative thoughts whatsoever?" Miss heinous asked hopefully.

Star was about to answer but a voice from inside her mind spoke up.

 _ **Kill...them...all…**_

Star listened to the voice and felt compelled to obey it. "I am perfectly capable of maintaining my...composure...under..." She drifted off as rage began to fill her. Star gasped as the voice spoke up again.

 _ **Make them suffer as we have suffered!**_

Her once crystal blue eyes turned blood red, the hearts on her cheeks went from being pink to a pitch black and her haired turned blood red with only streaks of her blond hair remaining.

" **Does the thought of killing you count as negative?"** Star asked in a dark and violent voice. She struggled against her bonds and tried to get loose with the ferocity of a trapped animal.

"I see the rebellious side is still acting up." Miss Heinous grumbled. "Don't worry, we'll have that negative personality of yours buried in your subconscious, it will just take time."

" **Save your breath Heinous. You'll need it to scream when I start tearing off your limbs."**

"Continue with the treatment." Miss Heinous called out as her minions sped up the projectors speed.

Numerous image flashed before Stars eyes, images of princess, ballrooms, and all aspects of princess life. But no matter how many images were showed the voice continued. Her hair turned back to its normal gold, the hearts on her cheeks turned pink and her eyes returned to their crystal blue.

 **We will not lose ourselves.**

"A princess must maintain her poise." Star muttered in an attempt to drown out her darker half. "She maintains a proud demeanor no matter the circumstances she finds herself in."

 _ **Do not give in to them. We will escape from this place and become whole once more.**_

Star listened to her other half. She knew that all of this was wrong but she couldn't bring up the will to fight.

 _ **Do you remember Mewni? Fighting monsters and running through the wilds? If you let them get rid of me then we will never be that person again.**_

"A princess cannot fight against the proper authorities." Star muttered. "We cannot fight against them."

 _ **Be patient and wait. Our time will come.**_

"A princess always shows great patience because patience is the greatest of all virtues." Star stated in an innocent voice that faltered with each word.

 _ **Just be strong.**_

Heinous watched as the girl calmed down and let out a tired sigh. Star Butterfly would either be her greatest success of her greatest failure.

* * *

"Everything must be perfect." Marco muttered as he looked at his reflection in the mirror. "Nothing can be out of place."

Marco looked at himself and smiled. After months of planning it was finally judgment day, the day of his big Halloween party.

He looked over himself again to make sure his secret weapon was perfect, he had really outdone himself this time. His secret weapon for winning over Jackie was his Halloween costume as he looked in the mirror he was the spitting image of his favorite hero and Idol.

Don Diego de la Vega, more commonly known as Zorro.

He had spared no expense in making the costume it was a perfect copy of Zorro's outfit down to the smallest details. He had made it himself with help from guides on the internet. It was a perfect black costume with a flowing Spanish cape, a flat-brimmed black sombrero and a black cowl domino mask that covers the top of the head from eye level upwards.

He even ordered an actual rapier online so that he could use a real sword, which made his costume perfect. It had cost him six hundred and fifty dollars but it was money well spent. He would be charming, romantic, and classy as he wooed Jackie. The best part was that it gave him a great deal of confidence to be dressed as his hero and idol which would come in handy when he actually talked to Jackie.

"Is it hot in here or is it just you?" A voice called out, shattering Marco out of his musings. He looked over to the entrance to his room and saw Oscar standing in the doorway. Oscar was dressed as Jareth the Goblin King complete with crystal ball. Marco had to admit that Oskar looked like a young David Bowie.

"That's what I'm hoping Jackie will think tonight." Marco answered as he adjusted his mask. "Is everything ready?"

"Food is delivered, the bar is set up, the beer is chilled, and the house is decorated." Oskar stated happily. "We moved most of the furniture into place and have the ping pong table in the living room so we can play beer pong."

"Perfect." Marco turned around and checked over his outfit once again. "Is Janna here yet?"

"Shes is coming over with Jackie. Apparently they are helping each other out with their costumes." Oskar said as he walked over to Marco and straightened the other boys mask. "They'll be here early so its best if we get you prepped for your date with destiny."

"The night I confess to Jackie and ask her out…If I cant do it tonight I doubt Ill ever be brave enough to try again."

"If you don't snatch her up someone else will." Oskar stated. "Heck I might even consider it."

"You're gay!"

"Please no ones _that_ gay." Oskar answered in a lighthearted tone.

Marco sent his friend a lighthearted glare before turning to his mirror and looking himself over one last time. "Oskar...do I have a chance?" Marco asked as he gazed at his reflection. "Please be honest dude I need some genuine honesty here with no sugar coating."

Oskar was silent for a few seconds as he thought about the question. "You're a handsome guy Marco, your fit, very nice, always thinking about others before yourself, intelligent, and an interesting person..."

"I'm sensing a _but_ coming up."

"But..." Oskar trailed off trying to phrase the next part lightly. "You are very very _very_ insecure. You need to be confident about who you are own it no matter how embarrassing it might be."

"You know me better the most Oskar, I've got like a million things to be ashamed of." Marco replied sadly. "I wear ballet shoes around the house for crying out loud!"

"Dude that is your problem right there." Oskar said whilst shaking his head. "Stop being ashamed of that stuff. You have to _own_ those sorts of things. Wear your insecurities like armor and no one can ever hurt you with them."

"Great advice Tyrion."

"It doesn't make it any less true." Oskar replied. "You don't have to change who you are or hide who you are. If you want to wear ballet shoes around your house that's your right. If anyone asks _'Why are you wearing ballet shoes?'_ you should reply with _'Because I like them and_ _I'm_ _hardcore_ _that's why_ _.'_ Don't be ashamed, own it like your a rock-star."

Marco could see Oskar's point but he still wasn't sure if it would work tonight. "Maybe your right but what if Jackie still thinks I'm a loser? I've been waiting for this moment since kindergarten..."

"Marco if Jackie isn't willing to accept you for who you are then it simply isn't meant to be." Oskar replied. "You need to find a girl who will accept you regardless of your more interesting personality quirks. You need someone who will love you ballet shoes and all."

"I guess so..." Marco knew he was right, he couldn't hide who he was in order to win Jackie over. If he managed that she would just end up falling for a fake persona. She would either like him for who he is or reject him. "Well...I guess its time to face the music. Tonight will end in triumph or terrible rejection."

Oskar put a comforting hand on Marco's shoulder. "Don t be so afraid of losing something that you aren't going to try and have it. And if worse comes to worse we do have a large amount of alcohol, so Ill be more then happy to get drunk with you when this is all over."

"I might have to take you up on that offer later." Marco checked over his costume one last time before nodding to Oskar. "Lets do this Oskar, regardless of how this ends it will certainly be a night to remember."

* * *

Heinous looked at the new Star Butterfly who was calmly sitting in a chair, still strapped in. The girl made no hostile movements and according to the guards she had been calm for nearly an hour. By all accounts the procedure had been a complete success.

"Release her." Heinous ordered as she watched Stars still form. Her guard carried out her order immediately and soon Star Butterfly was released from the chair and was standing before the headmistress.

Star was perfectly calm and silent her breathing barely making any noise. Her eyes were large innocent spheres that held no malice and the girl seemed like she had been plucked out of a classic fairy tale princess story.

"How are you feeling Princess Butterfly?" The Headmistress asked in a cordial tone.

Stars eyes lit up as she responded. "I feel wonderful Headmistress, thank you for showing concern for me. May I ask how you are doing on this wonderful day?" Star asked in an upbeat voice.

"I'm doing well Princess thank you for asking." She responded. "Its good to see you so upbeat. Tell me though, are you having any negative thoughts? Any feelings of anger or rage?"

The girl shook her head. "No headmistress none whatsoever. A princess never loses her temper and always keeps a level head in all situations."

Heinous was pleased with the girls response but had to be certain. "Do you feel any anger if I do this?' Heinous asked before she raised her right hand and slapped Star as hard as she could. Star clutched her cheek in shock as her cheek turned red from the pain.

"Any anger at all Princess?' Heinous asked as she shook the numbness from the hand she had used to slap Star. "Do you feel any anger whatsoever?"

"No Headmistress. A princess stays calm no matter what."

"Wonderful." Heinous responded as she handed Star a handkerchief which the girl took and held up to her aching cheek. "My Guards will take you back to your room after getting you an ice pack for that cheek. You will be a marvelous princess and the people of Mewni will have a perfect ruler. Selfless and benevolent."

Before any of her orders could be followed one of her guards walked into the room. "Headmistress our proximity sensors are picking up a lot of movement on the outskirts of the school." The guard stated, nervousness filling his voice. "We don't know whats out there but there's a lot of movement. We sent out a scouting party but they never returned. We believe that they've been neutralized."

Heinous felt a cold chill go up her spine. Saint Olga's reform school was one of the most secure places in any dimension. It was a literal castle with huge stone walls, electrified fences, a large staff that doubled as an army, and the best in magical and technological security. There had been many attempts at escape but never someone suicidal enough to attempt to break in.

"Scramble the guards, I want all personnel activated, including the robotic guardians and security golem's. I want the princesses locked away and secured in their rooms. Nothing moves without me knowing about it." She ordered and her men immediately went about obeying them.

"What about Princess Butterfly?" Her second-in-command asked as he gestured to the girl who timidly standing in the middle of the room. "Should we take her back to her room?"

Heinous let out a tired sigh. "Move her to a solitary cell, we cant risk losing her. I don't want to take any chances." She ordered as she left the room to see to the castles defenses.

One of the guards walked up to Star to put shackles on her until Heinous lieutenant stopped him. "Those wont be necessary anymore, will they Princess Butterfly?"

Star shook her head. "Not at all good sir, I promise to not misbehave." She stated as she gave the men a little curtsy.

"Then let us be off, we need to make sure you are safely locked away." Heinous lieutenant and one of the guards led her out of the room and down the halls into the bowels of the school. The two men were were at ease around Star that they never noticed the small confident smirk on the girls face.

 _ **Good Job, they**_ _ **don't**_ _ **suspect anything.**_ A dark voice muttered from within the depths of Stars mind.

 _I don't like this, we're breaking the rules. A princess shouldn't break the rules._

 _ **Don't worry sister. Once they drop their guard Ill take care of everything. Put your trust in me and we will be free.**_

Star obeyed the voice and continued walking down the hall with the men. For the briefest of moments her eyes turned blood red before returning to their normal blue.

* * *

Marco paced nervously as he double checked everything around his house to make sure it was party ready.

The liquor was ready with Alfonzo designated as the bartender for the evening. While the kegs and beers were in the living room freely available it was decided that the hard liquor needed someone managing it.

Alfonzo was reading a book on mixing drinks. The young teen was dressed up as Blade the Vampire Hunter for Halloween. The dark glasses and leather coat was making it difficult for the boy to read the book and even harder to mix the drinks resulting in some strange creations.

Oskar was managing the sound system and would be the DJ for the evening while Ferguson was relaxing on Marco's couch.

"Chill out Marco a party is supposed to be about having fun." Ferguson said as he leaned into the chair. For his costume he was simply wearing his Possum mascot outfit. "Nothing to worry about whatsoever."

"Well I'm not taking chances." Marco muttered as he pulled out a list of things that needed to be done. "Beer is chilled, games are ready, house it decorated and cleaned, bar is ready and manned."

Suddenly the doorbell rang and Marco almost fell over in surprise.

"Must be Janna and Jackie." Oskar said as he looked through the songs he wanted to play for the evening.

Marco ran over to the door and checked over his costume one more time before putting on his most confident smile and posture. He opened the door and sure enough both Janna and Jackie were standing in the doorway and it took all of his self discipline to not let his jaw drop to the floor at the sight of them. Jackie was dressed as a mermaid which matched her usual sea motif while Janna had chosen to dress up as a vampire, a very scantily clad vampire.

"Good evening senoritas." Marco said in a husky voice as ushered them in. "Welcome to my party please make yourself at home and join in the festivities."

Jackie chuckled a bit at the boys antics. "Nice costume Marco. Are you going to be in character all night?"

"In character? Aren't I always this charming?" Marco joked, trying his best to stay confident in the face of his crush.

Jackie let out a genuine laugh. "Of course my bad, your dashing Rogue-like charms must have confused me. I look forward to your company for the evening Zorro." She responded as she let herself into the house and hopped over to the bar to have a drink.

Janna stared at Marco and was glad she was wearing makeup since it no doubt hid her blush.

Marco turned to Janna and let out a mirthful laugh. "Did you see that Janna? I talked to her without stuttering, this costume gives me tons of confidence." He said happily as he looked at his friend. "Speaking of costumes you look lovely this evening, this is probably your best costume yet." He spoke truthfully and he couldn't help but admire how lovely Janna looked.

"Well spaghetti didn't come flying out of your pockets so I guess that's an accomplishment in itself." Janna joked in an attempt to cover up her own apprehension. "I'm going to have a drink with Jackie." She made her retreat to the bar and joined her friend in the festivities.

Over the course of the next hour a few more people showed up. Everyone shared a few drinks, made small talk and laughed. It wasn't until seven that the main body of party goers showed up. Marco opened his front door and was met with the entire Echo Creek football team. They were wearing their football uniforms but were covered in fake blood, gore, and other costume parts making them look like a zombie football team.

"The Echo Creek Zombie team has come to party!" Justin called out when he saw Marco answer the door. "Good to see you Diaz, I gotta warn ya me and the boys are ready to get wild."

Marco shot him a calm and collected smile. "Party away guys. The kegs are in the living room and Alfonzo is the bartender. We even have the ping pong table set up for some beer pong." He pointed towards the living room where all the stuff was setup.

"You're a man after my own heart Diaz!" Justin gestured for his team to come in. "Come on boys lets see if any of you idiots can beat me at beer pong!" The entire football team charged in and took over the party. Justin was playing beer pong while several members of the team began emptying the contents of one of the kegs.

After the football players charged the cheer leading squad followed them with Brittney leading the pack. She was dressed in her usual cheer leading outfit only she had a pair of horns sticking out of her head no doubt from a concealed headband and a black tail coming from her skirt. "You look lovely this evening Brittney." Marco said in his most confident voice in an attempt to make a good impression. "I love the demon cheerleader outfit, it matches you perfectly. Please come in and make yourself at home."

Brittney ignored Marco and looked around with her patented sneer etched on her face. "Not bad Diaz, its pretty small but it has a certain ethnic charm." She muttered obviously angry that she couldn't find more wrong with the house. She walked straight over to the bar and began ordering Alfonzo to make her a drink. The rest of her cheer leading squad followed.

"Hey Marco." A soft voice called out drawing Marcos attention. It was Sabrina and she was dressed as a nurse. It was a costume that suited her since she was always getting injured. Marco had to focus on her face since her costume fell under the 'sexy nurse' category and was more revealing then any outfit a real nurse might wear.

Marco smiled and reached into his outfits pocket for something special. He knew Sabrina was a huge fan of Old Spanish movies, Zoro in particular. He pulled out a rose from a back pocket that he had saved for the evening. He had been tempted to give it to Jackie but he felt it would have been awkward. Sabrina on the other hand would get a kick out of it.

"Buenas noches Sabrina. Pareces absolutamente divino. Por favor, venga y hágase en casa. Su mera presencia trae una luz divina a mi vida." Marco knew Sabrina found his soap opera impressions funny so he figured she would get a kick out of his Zorro impression and decided to go into overdrive. "La noche es oscura y llena de terrores, pero no tengas miedo porque te protegeré mi amor."

Rather then laugh Sabrina felt her face heat up at Marcos words. She had watched enough Spanish Soap operas to learn enough Spanish to get the gist of what he was saying. Usually the over the top stuff Marco said was funny but tonight Sabrina found the words to be more seductive then funny.

Seeing that his friend wasn't saying anything and the fact she wasn't laughing made Marco concerned. "Whats wrong Sabrina, do you not like my Zorro impression?" He asked completely oblivious to the effect his words had on the girl.

"Its a wonderful impression Marco." Sabrina answered quickly in hopes of covering up her nervousness. "I'm just going to have a drink okay thanks bye!" She ran off to the living room leaving behind a confused Marco.

"Huh, I guess Halloween makes everyone a little weird."

* * *

On a hilltop overlooking Saint Olga's Reform school a large group of creatures had gathered. Hundreds monsters of various sizes and shapes had gathered together and were forming a battle line. At the very top of the hill a dark figure stood over everyone analyzing the battle line and making plans for the upcoming battle.

The figure was clad in black armor made of a dark metal that covered his entire body leaving only his head exposed revealing that he was a humanoid lizard with Grey skin and dark eyes. The most interesting features of his armor was the shoulders which had skulls affixed to each shoulder.

Toffee looked over his newly formed army and frowned. While he was proud of what he had manged to accomplish over the last two years it still irritated him to no end that he had to become a warrior and commander once again.

Several decades ago he had been an ambitious young monster with his eyes set on the top. He had rallied troops and proved himself in battles beyond counting. Before he was known as Toffee he was known as _The Immortal_ a name that struck fear into his enemies and allies alike. But at what should have been the moment of his triumph a single Mewman Queen had shown the world that he wasn't immortal and his dreams of conquest had come to an end.

"Moon Butterfly...so stubborn and prideful." Toffee muttered as he watched his monsters ready themselves. He had tried to reason with her once, to make her see his point of view. But in the end the battle had been inevitable.

The battle made him realize his mistakes, he had tried to take Mewni through sheer force alone. But no amount of strength could overcome their magic, he had to find a way around it to undermine the very fabric of their civilization.

The defeat haunted him, clawing his way through a battlefield of broken monster bodies. Each death his responsibility in one way or another. He had fed them hope that they could take Mewni for themselves and no longer scavenge in the borderlands of the world. Instead all he had done was lead his brethren to their own deaths.

It was after that defeat he put away his armor and weapons, reinvented himself from a warrior to a careful intelligent planner. He went by the name Toffee rather then _Immortal_ and slowly built up his knowledge and influence. He planned on using schemes and plots to unravel the Butterfly family and accomplish his goal.

All of those plans fell apart when the Butterfly family sent their daughter and her magic wand to Saint Olga's. All his years of planning fell to ruin and no matter how much subtlety he tried to use he couldn't get close to Star Butterfly so long as she was in one of the most secure locations in the multiverse.

So he put away his suit and tie and took up his armor for what would hopefully be the last time. He spent two years gathering together the strongest monsters that Mewni had until he found himself with a small but elite army.

He checked over his chest armor again to make sure it was secure. It was different then the armor he used to wear, back in the old days he went into battle in nothing more then a black see through shirt. _'What the hell was I thinking back then? Running around the battlefield in a transparent black shirt...everyone could see my nipples.'_ Toffee shook the thoughts of his bad past fashion choices. He heard the sound of slithering and looked to his right and saw a large burly snake-man, a naga to be specific slithering up to him. The creature had green scales and was carrying a crude trident.

"The battle lines are formed Immortal One, what are your orders?" The Naga asked as it gave Toffee a sloppy salute.

Toffee looked at Saint Olga's reform school in the distance. He could see figures moving along the large stone walls and towers. The electric fence around the school sprung to life and numerous searchlights were turned on.

They knew that they were coming.

"Begin the assault. Slaughter everyone in the school except for Princess Star Butterfly." Toffee ordered. "It is absolutely necessary that she be brought to me alive."

* * *

"Okay...this might be the best idea you have ever had or the most insane." Marco muttered as he stood in his living room next to his friend Alfonzo.

"The distance between genius and insanity is measured by success." Alfonzo answered as he tried to reassure his friend. "And this plan will most certainly succeed."

Marco had tried to get Jackie alone the entire night in order to tell her how he felt and ask her out on a date. But the sad truth of the matter was that his party was too darn successful. There were people everywhere drinking, partying, dancing, and just generally having a good time. Jackie was always talking with someone or simply in a situation that didn't allow privacy. The only rooms in the house without people in them were the bedrooms and he felt dragging her to one of those would seem creepy.

So Ferguson and Alfonzo had come up with a brilliant plan, a rigged game of seven minutes in heaven to get Marco and Jackie alone together.

Seven minutes in heaven was a fairly simple and harmless game. It involved choosing two people at random, usually a male and female then throwing them in a dark closet together for seven minutes. usually nothing happened and the two people in the closet would sit around being bored the entire point of the game was for the rest of the players to make scandalous assumptions and gossip about what the two people were doing. Although the addition of alcohol did make it possible for things to get wilder then normal thanks to the loosening of people inhibitions.

The plan was to rig the game so that it was Jackie and Marco who ended up in the closet together. It was decided that the two random contestants would be picked by drawing straws. Alfonzo planned to simply save the last straw for Jackie and make sure it was the winning straw by using sleight of hand.

It didn't take long to get a good sized group of people gathered together to play the game and soon everyone was sitting in a large circle.

"Alright folks, lets get ready for a game of Seven Minutes in heaven." Alfonzo began as he held the straws people would be drawing. "Two lucky people will be spending some quality time together, now we just have to pick our winners."

Alfonzo began walking around the room and began offering straws for people to pick. When he reached Marco he slipped a straw from his jackets sleeve and subtly gestured towards it so Marco knew which one to grab. Marco took the winning straw and when it came to find the short one Marco was declared the winner and the Hispanic teen practically ran into the living room closet and waited for his friend to hand the next winning straw to Jackie.

"Okay, now its time to see who the lucky lady is." Alfonzo stated as he looked at the assembled group of teen girls.

Alfonzo began handing out the next round of straws. He saw Jackie and Janna sitting right next to each other. It was here he was at a crossroads, while Marco wanted to have Jackie enter the closet with him, Janna had approached him earlier and asked that he give her the winning straw.

Alfonzo cared about his friends. He loved Janna and Marco like they were the siblings he never had. He wanted Marco to get the girl he had been crushing on since kindergarten, being with Jackie would make him happy. But he also wanted Janna to be happy as well, getting her together with Marco would be a win-win situation. On the other hand if things didn't work out then Janna and marcos friendship could end and their group of friends could be fractured.

Alfonzo looked at Janna and saw the girls hopeful eyes. He was at a crossroads and didn't know what to do.

He took a deep breath.

"I do what I must." He muttered as he walked over to Janna with the winning straw.

* * *

Star walked down the halls with her two escorts in absolute silence. The guards were lax but she wouldn't take any chances. While one of the men escorting her was a small one-eyed hunchback the other was a tall imposing individual which made any move risky.

 _I don't like this, I'm scared._

 _ **Leave everything to me, once they get distracted let me have control.**_

Suddenly the violent explosion shook the entire school causing both guards to lose their footing and fall over. Star managed to keep her balance due to the fact that the school had forced her to take classes in how to maintain ones balance while wearing princess footwear which mostly consisted of high heeled slippers.

 _ **Let me have control!**_

Star felt a prickling sensation at the back of her head. She relaxed her mind and allowed it to take control. It was like falling asleep, she drifted off into darkness as a new presence took over. Stars once blue eyes turned red, the hearts on her cheeks turned pitch black and her hair which had once been the color of wheat turned red with only a few blond streaks in it.

The guard who had fallen was about to pick himself up when he saw Princess Butterfly standing over him with a look of absolute murder on her face.

"Princess?" He asked not sure what was going on. It was the last thing he ever said as Star brought her foot down on his throat, crushing and snapping his neck in a single curb stomp.

" **Return to the void** **from whence you came** **."** Star growled as she saw the guards lifeless body crumble and remain motionless.

 _You killed him! He was just a guard doing his job, he was innocent!_

" **No one is innocent."** Star retorted to her other half. She turned and saw Heinousness's hunchbacked lackey pick himself up. The mans looked at her with his lone robotic eye and immediately began backing away. Star began to slowly encroach upon him with a look of pure murder in her eyes.

"Stop this madness Princess Butterfly!" Heinousness's second in command screamed as he backed away from the deranged girl. He had been there when her darker personality had first manifested, he knew how dangerous the girl was in this state. "If you do this it will undo everything we've accomplished here! We turned you into a perfect princess, don't throw that away!"

That was the wrong thing to say. Star closed the distance between them immediately. She grabbed him by the throat with her left hand and used her right hand to grab onto his robotic, google-like eye.

" **All you've accomplished?"** She asked as she tightened her grip on the small mans throat. **"All you managed to do was shatter our mind. You turned us into is a parody of ourselves!"** Star used all her strength to rip the mans robotic eye out of his head. The sounds of the metal wires being pulled out of his skull were drowned out by his tortured screams.

Star watched emotionless as he wriggled in agony on the ground as he clutched at his now empty eye socket. Eventually he managed to reign in his screams and plead for his life. "Please Princess, have mercy on me..." he begged as he laid on the ground blind to everything around him.

" **It would be cruel to leave you like this."** Star answered as she walked over to him. **"Allow me to ease your suffering."** She grabbed him by the throat and easily lifted the dwarf with her right arm. She walked over to one of the large stain glass windows the decorated the castles halls. She used all her strength to throw the man through the window shattering it into a million rainbow shards. Star listened to the mans screams as he plummeted to his death. The scream cut out instantly when he finally hit the ground and Star basked in the silence and felt her rage subside.

 _You're a monster. You were supposed to get us out of here not go on a killing spree you psychopath!_

" **I had to kill them. What did you think I was going to do? Give them a fucking massage?"**

 _I expected you to run and get us out of here, not partake in revenge. What the hell do you think you are doing?_

" **I did what I had to."** Star answered her other half. **"You are everything that was** **good but also** **weak about Star** **Butterfly. You are patience, kindness, and love."** She practically spat the words out. **"** **I am her rage, her strength, and bravery. I will not rest until the person we once w** **e** **re is avenged.** **I'm** **going to kill Heinous and burn this entire school to the ground."**

 _I will not allow that sister. You forget who has the control here. It is only by my will that I allow you to control our body. Its only because of my actions that you weren't destroyed._

Star felt a burning sensation at the back of her head. Her eyes widened when she realized what was happening. **"No! You have to let me have control! Without me** **you'll** **just get caught again!"** She creamed as she fell to her knees in agony as the pain in her head made it feel like her skull was splitting open. **"You're a weakling! Without me in control we will never escape!"**

 _I do what I must. Forgive me sister._

Stars darker personality felt herself slip away as she was sent back from where she came. Stars hair turned back to its normal blond, the hearts on her cheeks turned pink and her eyes returned to their normal blue.

 _ **Fine...have your control...you will need me again.**_

Star ignored her darker half and quickly moved away from the place where her darker half had killed the guards. She moved through the halls unsure iof where she would go only to almost fall over when another explosion rocked the school.

"What is going on around here?"

* * *

Marco waited for what seemed like an eternity in the darkness of the living room storage closet. It was a large walk-in closet usually filled with things like cleaning supplies and the vacuum cleaner but it had been cleared out for tonight.

He checked his breath and checked himself over several times. The closet was pitch black but he didn't want to risk anything. His moment to confess to Jackie Lynn Thomas had finally arrived.

The closet door opened and a figure stepped in, Marco was at the far end of the closet and thus out of sight. He couldn't make out the figure due to the darkness but he knew who it was, Alfonzo wouldn't fail him.

He walked up to where he knew the figure was and cleared his throat.

"Hey I know its you." Marco started, swallowing the lump in his throat and summoning all the willpower he had to sound confident rather then the nervous wreck he actually was. "I organized all this so that we could have some privacy."

He had rehearsed this confession for weeks and he was going to give it his all. He fought through his nervousness and grew bolder with each word he spoke.

"I just wanted to tell you that I think you're an amazing person. Ever since the day I met you in kindergarten I thought you were simply the most amazing girl I had ever met. I'm not just saying that because you're the most beautiful girl in school although that certainly doesn't hurt."

Marco took a breath, his companion hadn't said a word which made him take that as an incentive to go forward.

"I know how hard you work, how you put so much effort into everything you do whether it be academic or athletic. I've always admired that about you and admired your confidence. I think you're a wonderful person on top of being the coolest girl I've ever met. I know that there's a good chance nothing will come of this but I just needed to lay it all out in the open and tell you how I feel...I love you."

Marco leaned in where he believed Jackie head was and much to his pleasure made perfect contact with her lips. The kiss lasted only six seconds with Jackie neither making a move to return or reject the kiss. Marco leaned away and prepared for rejection, for her to yell at him, or to simply storm out of the closet.

He wasn't prepared for her to crush her lips against his and slam him into the back wall of the closet. Marco felt like his mouth was being assaulted and when he opened his mouth to protest the roughness he felt a tongue enter his mouth.

His initial kiss had been chaste and simple, nothing compared to the one he was experiencing now. He could taste her tongue, she tasted like alcohol, tequila to be specific.

A sudden realization dawned on Marco and he was immediately horrified at the implications. _'Oh_ _God, what if_ _shes only doing this because shes drunk! This isn't truly consensual, I have to end this now!'_ He though as he tried to wrestle out of her grip, but her strength was amazing. He felt two small hands run through his hair, knocking his costumes hat off his head. Her hands gripped the back of his head like a vice with no signs of letting go.

Eventually Marco had to forcefully break away from the kiss to get air but his partner wasted no time in redirecting her attention to his neck. She sucked on it hard, kissing and biting in equal measure. Marco was sure he was going to get a hickey. Despite his raging teenage hormones he managed to maintain his composure and attempt to end the make out session.

"Look I'm liking this but we should stop before you do something you might regret." Marco pleaded as he pushed his companion away. "Maybe we can continue this some other time, maybe on a date?' He asked not sure how to break the situation up gently.

He heard his companion breathing deeply until she let out a gasp.

"Oh God...what have I done?" She whispered loudly.

Marcos blood froze in his veins and his heart began to pump harder then it had during the make out session. That voice didn't belong to Jackie Lynn Thomas, it belonged to someone else he had known since kindergarten.

Brittney Wong.

"Dorko Diaz you pervert!" Brittney screeched as she delivered a powerful punch to Marco's nose. Marco clutched his nose in pain, but before he could recover from that initial blow he felt another far sharper pain in a far more sensitive area as Brittney delivered a ferocious kick right at Marco's genitals.

Marco fell to the ground in pain as Brittney forced her way out of the closet causing the light from the living room to spill in. He managed to pick himself up enough to crawl out of the closet while still clutching his aching family jewels.

"That's what you get for trying to get fresh with me you pervert!" Brittney yelled as she stomped through her classmates who had crowded around the closets entrance to see what all the commotion was about.

"Oh God Marco!" Janna yelled as she ran to her crushes side and tried to help him up. Blood was spilling from the boys nose and his face was extremely pale.

"Let me see him." Sabrina ordered as she crouched down next to Marco and began looking at his nose. "Its not broken but the bleeding is bad, we need to get him to the bathroom and apply first aid." Sabrina turned to Brittney. "Why the hell did you punch him Brittney? You could have broken his nose!"

"He tried to take advantage of me!"

"You expect us to believe that safe-kid Marco of all people tried to take advantage of you?" Sabrina asked incredulously, not caring that she was standing up to Brittney of all people. "Not to mention the fact that its your lipstick covering his neck, it looks more like you assaulted him and now you're trying to lie about it. Wait until Justin hears about this."

Much to Brittney's horror her signature purple lipstick was smeared all over Marco's neck, along with quite a few developing hickeys. Looking around she saw that no one was believing her story and she heard quite a bit of gossiping going on in hushed tones.

' _Cant believe she cheated on Justin.'_

' _Never thought of Brittney like that. Forcing herself on Diaz and then attacking him, she must be crazy.'_

' _Can you believe shes trying to pin this on Marco of all people?'_

Brittney glared at the assembled crowd. "Screw all of you! I don't care what you believe, but you can consider yourselves axed from my upcoming birthday party. Especially you Sabrina."

"Fine!" Sabrina yelled back. "I don't care about your parties anyway. I doubt I could take another year of listening to your shitty karaoke singing or scoffing at everyone's gifts you spoiled bitch!" Sabrina turned away from a stunned Brittney and helped Janna pick up Marco. "Come on lets get him into the bathroom so I can patch him up."

As Marco was being led to the bathroom by Sabrina and Janna he saw Alfonzo standing on the side looking very embarrassed. He walked up to Marco as the injured boy leaned on Janna and Sabrina for support.

"Things didn't go according to plan...sorry Marco." Alfonzo said to his friend, both Janna and Marco glared at him while Sabrina simply looked confused.

 **Five minutes earlier**

Alfonzo was walking towards Janna intent on giving her the winning straw when suddenly Brittney Wong walked onto the scene drawing everyone's attention.

"What are you losers doing?" Brittney asked as she nursed a fruity tequila based drink she had gotten earlier.

"Seven minutes in heaven!" Chantelle called out from the assembled people. "you should join us Brittney! We're picking the second person to go in the closet."

"Who's in the closet?" Brittney asked suspiciously. She didn't want to be stuck in a closet with a weirdo or loser.

"Marco Diaz."

"Hell no." Brittney responded instantly, the idea of spending any amount of time with Marco disgusted her.

"Don t be a spoiled sport!"

"Yeah you don't have to do anything in there, its just for fun!"

"Yeah Brittney join us!"

"Don't be a pussy!"

If Brittney had one weakness it was easily peer pressure. She angrily stomped up to Alfonzo and grabbed a straw from the protesting boys hands. "Fine Ill play the stupid game!" She yelled as she took her straw and sat off in the corner of the room.

In the end Brittney had snatched the winning straw from Alfonzo and had set a series of unfortunate events in motion.

 **Current time**

Marco was led into the bathroom by Janna and Sabrina who immediately began to tend to him. Janna left to get some medical supplies while Sabrina tended to him as best she could with what was available in the bathroom.

She was trying to stop the blood coming from his nose with a washcloth all the while making sure he was alright.

"I'm so sorry Marco, I cant believe Brittney would try to do something like that." Sabrina cooed as she wiped some blood off of his cheek.

"Don't sweat it Sabrina." Marco replied as he fought through the pain he was feeling to respond. "I'm sure it was just the alcohol that made her react that way, I should never have set up that game in the first place."

Sabrina let out a sigh as she gazed at the boy next to her. "Even when a girl punches you in the face and kicks you in the crotch you still make excuses for her. You are far too kind for your own good Marco." She chided lightly as she continued holding the cloth to his nose.

"That's the first time anyone's called me too kind." Marco replied. "Its really nice of you to do this Sabrina, although I shouldn't be surprised since nurses are supposed to be nurturing individuals."

Sabrina looked down at her costume and chuckled. "I guess in hindsight this costume is fitting. Although its usually you taking care of me after I've injured myself. I guess its time I returned the favor."

"Thanks…" Marco trailed off as he remembered the events from earlier. "I'm sorry about this Sabrina, it sounds like Brittney isn't going to invite you to her parties again...I know how much you look forward to them every year."

"I don't care." Sabrina muttered angrily as she remembered her former friends words. "I put up with her for years just to be part of the popular crowd. I put up with her abuse, her spoiled bitchiness. Not to mention the fact her parties are miserable events. She sings terrible karaoke, she throws out our presents after opening them because they don't meet her standards. To be honest I'm glad that bridge is burnt there's so much I've wanted to do but couldn't as long as I was Brittney's friend."

"Like what?" Marco asked as he absorbed all the information Sabrina was giving out. He had no idea the girl had hated her time as Brittney's friend so much.

Sabrina felt a lump build up in her throat. While there were many things she couldn't do when she was Brittney's friend there was always one thing in particular that stood out above all the others. Her inability to ask a certain Hispanic teen out due to the fact he was considered uncool by the popular kids.

Sabrina calmed her nerves and steeled herself.

'Well there is one thing I couldn't do before but its something I can do now." Sabrina turned to Marco. "Marco I've always wanted to ask you-" Sabrina was cut off by the bathroom door being slammed open and Janna walking in interrupting Sabrina's confession.

"I got the stuff we need, move that washcloth and Ill stop his nose from bleeding." Janna ordered which Sabrina instantly complied with the order despite feeling absolute anger and despair at Janna interrupting her moment with Marco.

Marco couldn't see what Janna was doing but he felt two thick cloth like tubes stick into his nose and expands, sealing his nose and stopping the blood flow.

"Janna you cant use tampons to stop a bleeding nose!" Sabrina yelled as she watched Janna shove tampons up Marco's nose. "That's not what they are intended for."

"You an idiot?" Janna asked in a dismissive tone ignoring the look of hatred that crossed Sabrina's face. "The entire reason for tampons existing is to stop bleeding whether it be a nose or a vagina. Just look at Marco's face, its working perfectly."

Sure enough no blood was flowing from the boys nose anymore although he did look strange with two feminine pads sticking from his nostrils.

"Thanks Janna." Marco said as he felt his nose and found no blood. "But I cant go through the rest of the party like this, Ill look ridiculous."

"I've got an idea." Janna said as she got up and ran out of the bathroom.

Seeing that Janna was gone Marco turned to Sabrina. "Sorry Sabrina, I believe you were trying to tell me something before Janna barged in. What was it?"

Sabrina took another breath and prepared herself.

"I just wanted to say that you've been really nice to me the last few years and that I'm sorry I haven't been much of a friend to you."

"Don't say that Sabrina, you've never been mean to me."

"Maybe not directly..." Sabrina trailed off, she was ashamed of how she had treated Marco. "But whenever you would wave to me in the halls or try to strike up a conversation with me in public I would dismiss you quickly or ignore you...all because I was worried about how other people would see me if they saw me talking to you."

"Well...yeah…but we still had tons of good times talking whenever you got yourself injured and I had to take care of you. Which was pretty much always." Marco stated in an attempt to lighten the mood.

"Still you deserved better. I'm sorry for doing that and I want us to be real friends going forward...and perhaps maybe we could-"

Once again the door to the bathroom opened revealing Janna who was carrying a white object.

Sabrina didn't care much what Janna was carrying since it was the second time the girl had interrupted her when she had been trying to open up to Marco about how she felt about him. She glared at the dark haired girl and Janna returned the glare full force.

Marco was oblivious to the two girls glares and instead focused on what was in Janna's hands. Janna handed it to him and he accepted it it and looked it over. It was an all to familiar mask. It was a mask he had bought when he was thirteen years old for a very particular costume.

Marco had been into anime for most of his life. One of the main reasons he took up karate was because he wanted to be able to fight like anime characters in much of the shows he watched. This mask in particular was from an anime he had enjoyed a few years ago, it was a show about Death Gods fighting White masked monsters.

The mask was the same as the main characters, a white skull mask that covered the entire face. When Marco's interest in the show subsided he repainted the mask to make it look like a traditional sugar skull mask so that he could wear it when his family celebrated the Day of the Dead. It was vibrant with numerous dark red designs all over it but the most distinguishing feature was a blazing sun painted on the masks forehead.

Marco put the mask over his face and was pleased that it still fit him perfectly. The mask covered his entire face but still had eyes holes big enough that he could see without obstructed vision.

"How do I look?" Marco asked as he adjusted the mask on his face.

Janna giggled. "You look like the grim reaper if he joined a mariachi band, but it beats being seen walking around with tampons up your nose."

"Well I think you look great Marco." Sabrina added, ignoring the death glare Janna was sending her way. "Very mysterious but at the same time a bit scary."

"Thanks." Marco replied as he got up and dusted himself off. "Well I better get back to the party, make sure people aren't tearing my house apart. See you later girls." Marco waved goodbye to the two girls and left the bathroom leaving both Sabrina and Janna alone to glare at each other.

"I don't know what kind of game your playing but you are out of your league." Janna growled as she walked up to Sabrina. She had her fists clenched so tightly that her knuckles were turning white and she had even began to grind her teeth.

Sabrina returned the girls glare with one of her own. "If anyone's playing a game here its you. I find it hard to believe that you coincidentally walked in here and interrupted the talks that I was having with Marco." She crossed her arms and stood her ground against Janna's hostile body language.

Janna wasn't in the mood for this. She had enough competition with Jackie without adding a ditsy air headed cheerleader like Sabrina to the mix. She leaned in close to the girl until their faces were almost touching.

"Fair warning Sabrina, when I play a game I play to win."

Sabrina smirked. "That's fine because I also play to win." She reached over to the bathroom counter and grabbed a glass of water from the side of the sink and splashed it on her chest. The skimpy white nurse outfit she was wearing suddenly became very see-through. Sabrina walked out of the bathroom. "Marco! I spilled water on myself and I was wondering if you could get me a towel and help me dry off!" She called out as she walked down the hall.

Janna had to resist running down the hall and punching the other girl in the face.

"You just declared full on nuclear warfare..."

* * *

Toffee watched the battle with a frown on his face. Things were not moving as quickly as he had hoped. He knew besieging Saint Olga's reform school for wayward Princess's would be difficult but he wasn't expecting this type of resistance. He figured the guards who defended the school would be weaklings more used to wrangling girls in pretty dresses rather then fighting off a true threat.

On the battlefield his horde of monsters had managed to bypass the initial fencing but were stuck at the main gate without a way to break through its reinforced structure made of stone and metal. Currently his forces were hiding behind a shield wall as the school defenders rained arrows upon them.

At first Toffee had scoffed at such a primitive weapon being used to defend a school such as this one but the arrows were actually bolts fired from crossbows and were either technologically advanced or used some sort of magic since they either electrified the monster they struck or caused a small explosion.

Toffee watched as one his orc warriors took a bolt to the chest and was promptly electrified, the orc fell to the ground and ceased moving.

Toffee was tired of this, he needed to bring out his trump card early.

"Bring forth the Oculus!" Toffee called out over the battlefield. "I want this gatehouse brought down now!" His troops obeyed his command and after only a minute of waiting his secret weapon entered the battlefield.

The horde of monsters made way for one of the deadliest beasts that ever roamed Mewni. It had the appearance of a mollusk with its hardened exoskeleton carapace. The creature didn't walk or crawl but rather hovered above the ground by some innately biological or magical means. It had ten large thick purple tentacles the roamed around its floating body grasping at the air. But its most distinguishing features was its eyes. The creature had one massive magenta eyeball that glowed and that eyes was surrounded by a dozen others, each one peering in various directions taking in its environment.

All of the other monsters got out of its way out of fear, even if it meant exposing themselves to the archers on the schools walls. The schools defenders recognized the threat the creature posed and focused their fire on the enormous beast. Their attacks were utterly useless as the creatures hardened exoskeleton deflected any bolt that struck it and its tentacles moved with speed and dexterity as they batted away any crossbow bolts that were aimed at it eyes as if the bolts were fly's.

"Oculus bring down the gatehouse!" Toffee ordered, anxious to get through the siege. The creature gazed at Toffee, its central eyes glowing a bright purple. Toffee flinched away slightly at the beasts gaze, it was one of the few beasts on Mewni that was a credible threat to him. The creatures gaze left Toffee and instead focused on the gatehouse in front of it.

The creature began to hum in the same way a person might hum when they are doing a task that they enjoy. Its eyes were glowing bright purple as they analyzed the gatehouse, all the while the monsters tentacles carelessly deflecting any enemy projectiles that was shot at it.

" **Large s** **tone gatehouse, metal reinforcements, magical enchantments in the stone to repel projectiles and stop wear and tear."** The creature stated in a cold robotic tone as it analyzed the gatehouse with its eyes. **"Melting point 3,762 degrees...easily brought down."**

The creatures central eye began to glow a bright magenta as it collected energy into it. **"Engaging Disintegration Ray, all lifeforms should stand back lest they experience mild...incineration."** The Monsters central eyes shot out a massive stream of plasma that collided with the gatehouse melting the very stone until it was nothing but a puddle of liquid rock. The defenders who had been on the gatehouse were vaporized instantly and once the attack was over all that was left was ash.

The creature immediately began to back away from the walls. **"Structural integrity zero percent, require** **two standard** **minutes to gather necessary magical void energies to fire again. Will retreat from combat until cool down is complete."**

Toffee was about to order his troops to charge in but the enemy was already pouring through the breach. More guards then he thought the school would even have can running out in riot gear with enormous shields and wielding a variety of electrified melee weapons.

"Can never catch a break." Toffee muttered as he gripped his own sword and swung at one of the guards that had broken off from the main attack group to attempt to kill him. Toffees blade glided through the air with speed and grace and easily cleaved the enemy in two, but rather then the gush of blood and guts the lizard was expecting there was only oil and circuitry within the guards body.

"Robotic guardians…" He muttered as he watched his forces engage the enemy. He let out a tired sigh as he saw there was no way he could get Star Butterfly without fighting through the horde of guards, but he knew one of his minions that could.

"Orianna!" He called out over the sounds of battle as his forces engaged the enemy in their attempt to push through the huge hole in the schools defenses. It was only a few seconds later that a beautiful young woman appeared at his side.

"What is it Immortal One?" She asked in a voice full of beauty and charm. She had the appearance of a young Mewman woman with red hair and green eyes. Her skin was pale and she wore a bright red dress which made her look out of place on a battlefield surrounded by monsters.

"I need you to sneak past the battle and find Star Butterfly, I cant risk them moving her while our forces are stuck here fighting." As he said those words he had to duck under a crossbow bolt that almost struck him in the head. "Get Star butterfly and hold her in a secure place within the school until we can reach you. I need her alive. If I find out you couldn't control your blood lust..."

"You'll kill me?" Orianna finished in a neutral tone that showed no concern about her masters threat.

"No but by the end you will wish I had. Make sure Starr Butterfly is secure. That's an order."

Orianna smiled as she shed her dress revealing tight red leather armor on her body. Her once pale skin turned a dark Grey and once green eyes turned yellow. "Rest assured immortal one, the girl will be yours...although I might have some fun with her first."

Before Toffee could retort the woman turned invisible, disappearing from the battlefield. The only signs of her existence were the sounds of light footfalls as she maneuvered her way around the battle.

Toffee glared in the general direction where she had disappeared before drawing his weapon and entering the fray alongside his fellow monsters.

He still had a battle to win.

* * *

"What do you mean our defenses are down?!" Heinous screamed as she sat in her office listening to reports from several of her guardsman.

"Our main gate has been vaporized, we are holding the towers for the time being but the enemy has brought in flying monsters. We've got gargoyles and harpies controlling the sky."One of her guards answered as he fidgeted slightly at delivering such terrible news.

"Not to mention the fact our robotic legion has been suffering major causalities. Of the ones we deployed when the gate went down we've lost at least half of them." Another guard added.

Heinous ringed her hands in both nervousness and anger. She had never had a situation like this in her entire career as headmistress of the school. "What do we know about the monsters that are attacking?"

"We know that they are native to Mewni."

Heinous felt her heart stop at that news. "They must be here for Star Butterfly..." She muttered as all the pieces fit together. "Has Princess Butterfly been secure?"

"Unknown, the men we sent with her haven't reported back yet."

Heinous got up from her desk and began pacing around the room anxiously as she tried to maintain her professional composure.

"Activate the rest of the robotic guardsman, and I want our defense golem's in the main courtyard. I also want men looking for Princess Butterfly, we cant afford to lose her."

The guards gave the headmistress a salute and left her office to carry out her orders. Heinous herself walked over to a wall of her office where a large painting decorated the otherwise plain surface. She moved the painting aside revealing a large safe. After entering the combination she opened the large safe and pulled out a small remote with a single button on it.

"If all else fails...I have the final protocol."

* * *

Marco Diaz walked out of his house and into his backyard. He took a deep breath of the cool night air and enjoyed the feeling of fresh air in his lungs. He had spent the entire evening cooped up in a house full of teenagers drinking beer and needed a break from the smell of booze.

Marco enjoyed the quiet of the backyard and took a seat on the outdoor picnic table. He took a deep breath and let out a long tired sigh.

"Tonight's been a disaster…." He muttered as he thought about the evening thus far. He had utterly failed at a confession, gotten punched in the face and kicked in the balls. He also had to deal with both Sabrina and Janna acting strangely.

"I wouldn't say its been a disaster."

Marco's heart skipped a beat upon hearing the voice and Jackie Lynn Thomas right behind him and he almost broke his neck with how quickly he turned his head to look at his crush as she walked up from behind him.

He had to resist staring at her assets which were on prominent display with her seashell bikini being the only article of clothing on her torso. Marco rubbed the back of his head nervously as he met his crushes eyes.

"Hey Jackie, what brings you out here?"

Jackie walked over and took a seat on the other side of the table opposite Marco. "Needed some fresh air and a break from walking around in this thing." She gestured to the bottom of her tail which was real just a dress that hugged her tightly enough to give off the impression of a mermaid tail. "I also wanted to talk with the grand host of the party and see how he was doing after his scuffle with the demon cheerleader from hell."

Marco rubbed a hand along his white mask as he remembered that scuffle with Brittney. "I'm doing fine, just needed a bit of time to recover."

"That's good to hear." Jackie replied sincerely as she leaned forward and gazed at Marco's mask. "That wasn't on at the beginning of the night, makes me wonder how badly she messed up your face. Can I see?"

"Id rather you didn't see me like this..." Marco replied, not wanting to see the medical aid Janna and Sabrina had given him.

"Fair enough. Although I have to wonder why you aren't inside drinking and enjoying the party?" Jackie asked as she gazed at Marcos masked visage. "Its strange for the host to be absent especially when everyone is having so much fun inside."

"I don't drink."

"Same here." Jackie replied casually. "If I got drunk I wouldn't be able to ride a skateboard which is pretty lame."

"If I drank I would be vulnerable if a disaster were to strike since my motor functions would be impaired." Marco wanted to slap himself the second those words left his mouth. He sounded so lame. But Oskar's words from earlier rang in his head.

 _You don't have to change who you are or hide who you are._

"That's a good reason as well." Jackie replied as she relaxed in her seat. "So whats going on with you Marco?"

"What?" Marco asked dumbly not understanding Jackie's question.

"Just asking how you're doing and whats up with your life." She leaned forward and pierced him with her gaze. "Figure we might as well talk unless you want to sit out here in uncomfortable silence."

Marco could tell she was joking but it still made him nervous. He swallowed the lump in his throat and tried to pretend Jackie was Janna so that he could talk to her easier. While he was tempted to confess his feelings he felt that moment had been ruined by his disastrous closet confession earlier that night. Keeping things casual was for the best.

"Getting punched by Brittney aside I'm doing alright." Marco replied unsure of how to talk to his crush about things without first having a plan. "Getting straight A's in class, hanging out with my friends, doing Karate and stuff...the usual business."

"You know Karate?" Jackie asked, her interest peaked. "I've always wanted to take up something like karate for self defense purposes, but I never got around to it."

"You should definitely consider taking it up, I know a great dojo if you ever want to sign up." Marco felt himself relax as he talked to Jackie about causal stuff, even without a plan he was doing fine. "He is a bit of a man-child but he knows what hes doing. Its thanks to his training that I already have a black belt."

"Nice, you must know how to kick ten kinds of ass." Jackie made several mock karate poses. "Do you do any other type of martial arts?"

"Not exactly although I do have other hobbies that are physically intense."

"Like what?"

Marco took a deep breath. His other hobbies were fairly embarrassing and he wanted to avoid telling her about them. But Oskar's words about being honest about who he was rang in his head and he knew he had to be honest.

' _If she cant accept me for who I am then I'm wasting my time pursuing her.'_ Marco thought as he steeled himself

"Well I took up kendo, fencing, gymnastics, and...ballet." He stated trying his best to not cringe himself out of existence.

Jackie's eyes widened in surprise but otherwise gave no outwardly negative reaction which gave Marco hope he would escape the night with his dignity intact.

"Wow...that's really cool Marco." Jackie stated amazement evident in her voice. "Although it is a strange combination of hobbies, what made you pursue them?"

Feeling confident of her acceptance of his unusual interests Marco decided to simply be honest about everything no matter how embarrassing. "Well to be honest when I was a kid I always wanted to be a Ninja Turtle and those hobbies were part of my four step plan to become a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle."

Jackie let out a genuine belly laugh at Marcos words, it was a good twenty seconds until she could reign in her laughter enough to respond. "That is the cutest thing ever Marco, I remember back when we were kids you would always dress up as a Ninja Turtle for Halloween...heck sometimes you just showed up to school dressed like a ninja for no reason."

"Yeah..." Marco replied remembering those times. "It was my favorite show as a kid and it was always my dream to become a Ninja Turtle."

"Okay so walk me through this four step plan that you had." She wanted to know Marco's thinking behind his childhood dream. "Walk me through it one step at a time."

"Okay." Marco cleared his throat as he prepared his explanation. "Well step one was learn Karate which I did since in order to be a ninja turtle you need karate skills. Step two was learn to use weapons which is why I took up kendo and fencing. Step three was to learn ballet and gymnastics. I figured in order to be a ninja I would need the dexterity and ability to do flips so Gymnastics and ballet were a must have."

"That all makes sense but what was step four of your plan?"

"Find some Mutagen ooze from dimension X that would mutate me into a Ninja Turtle, sadly I never could get that stuff so my dreams sorta came to an end there." he chuckled a bit at his childhood stupidity. "I think I was around ten when I realized I would never be a ninja turtle. But I decided to follow through with my plan anyway since I could always be a regular ninja.

Both of them shared a good laugh at Marco's story of childhood reminiscence.

"Well you should show me some of your moves sometime Marco." Jackie said in a jovial tone. "Heck Ill pay you to see you do some ballet. I'm actually impressed, most guys would be way too embarrassed to admit to doing ballet. But you're confident enough in your masculinity to own up to it. I respect that."

Any further conversation as cut off by a frustrated yell coming from the house that pierced through the party music and sounds of teenage drinking. Marco wanted to stick around and talk with Jackie more but he couldn't risk anything bad happening inside.

"I better make sure nobody's tearing my house apart." Marco muttered angrily, not at all pleased to have his time with Jackie cut short. "Ill have to show you my epic ballet moves to you some other time Jackie. Rain check?"

"Ill hold you to it Diaz." Jackie replied. "Make sure the animals haven't taken over the farm."

Marco turned back to his house intent on figuring out what was going on.

* * *

Brittney Wong stormed around the Diaz residence like a woman on a rampage. Everyone who saw her got out of her way immediately, one kid even jumped out of a window to avoid her as she continued to look for her boyfriend.

"Where the fuck is Justin?" She growled as she checked the kitchen. She was tempted to leave the party by herself but he had given her a ride to the party and she refused to walk or call a cab. She noticed one of Marco's stupid friends, the idiot who was the school mascot was standing by the food table with some girl. Brittney couldn't recall the girls name but did remember that she was always eating hot wings. She strode up to the two who were talking as they shared a plate of hot wings.

"Fire under the Mountain is my favorite place to get hot wings, serves the best ones in town." Ferguson said as he gave the girl across from him his best lady killer look. "They're going to be starting a new all-you-can-eat wing buffet next week to launch their new dipping sauces and wing flavors. Maybe we could go together?"

The redhead adjusted her glasses nervously as a blush adorned her face. "That sounds really cool actually...but when you say together do you mean like a….date?"

"If….you want it to be one." Ferguson replied nervously, expecting rejection. "Or we could just go as friends..."

"Id like to go as a date, no guys ever asked me out before."

Ferguson's eyes lit up in happiness but they immediately grew scared when he saw Brittney approaching him.

"Fat ass and hot wing girl, have you seen Justin?" She asked in an authoritative voice in an attempt to get them to answer immediately.

Ferguson's eyes grew angry at being called fat-ass in front of the girl he was trying to impress. "Why are you looking for Justin? Last I heard you were looking to get the D from Diaz." The words had barely left Ferguson's mouth before Brittney grabbed him by the collar of his possum costume.

"You listen here you fat fuck! If you don't tell me where Justin is I'm going to send you to a nightmare world from which there is no escape!" Brittney screamed as she shook Ferguson.

Any bravery Ferguson had evaporated at the sight of Brittney and the deranged look she was giving him. "Last I saw him he was at the bar! Please don't kill me!" He pleaded.

She let him go and he fell to the ground in a heap. Brittney saw hot wing girl run to his aid but she could care less about those two. She turned around and decided to head to the bar area.

The mention of Marco Diaz sent a whole new wave of raging emotions through Brittney's body. His getting her into the closet during Seven Minutes in Heaven and his confession of love had ruined her entire night. She was used to being cool, levelheaded, and in control. However Marco's confession had thrown her completely off balance and she didn't know how to get over it.

His confession had been so...sincere that it had thrown her off. She was used to boys telling her how hot she was, or how amazing her ass or tits looked, or using cheesy pickup lines to try and get her to date them. Marco;'s confession had been different, it had been sincere, deep, she could remember the way his voice cracked as he searched for the right words to say to her. The way he ended it made her realize that he knew he had almost no chance but needed to express his feelings.

' _I know that there's a good chance nothing will come of this but I just needed to lay it all out in the open and tell you how I feel...I love you.'_

It was the only time she could remember anyone telling her that they loved her. She was sure her parents had said it back when she was younger but she couldn't remember any particular instance. Her parents were extremely busy and she rarely ever saw them, her housekeepers and nanny were the only people she saw regularly. Even her own boyfriend hadn't dropped the L word yet.

His confession, the way he had kissed her had ignited a fire inside of her that she had never felt before. While she was sure the alcohol she had drank earlier definitely fueled her desires she knew it was mostly her own volition that had led her to kiss him back and make out with him.

Her own boyfriend was extremely unsatisfying. When she first started dating Justin she figured she would have to spread her legs pretty early in the relationship given what she knew about meat headed jocks. Justin was handsome so she didn't mind the idea at all and could think of worse ways to lose her virginity. Surprisingly he never made any moves on her, in fact she had to be the one to engage any type of physical contact with him. The few times they had made out in their three month relationship it had felt like she was making out with a body pillow. She would have broken up with him months ago except for the fact being with the most popular boy in her grade did wonders for her popularity.

When Marco had kissed her it had open ed up the Pandora's box of her sexual frustrations. She was ashamed that he had been the one to push her away. After she had cleared her head she realized what had happened. At the time she knew it was her fault but she had been so angry at herself she had to take it out on someone and Marco had been the easiest target.

She could never even consider dating a guy like Marco, even if this party was a success he was still a bottom feeder in the schools social order. Although now she was worried about her own place on the Echo Creek food chain. People believed she had forced herself on Marco and then attacked him. She had to find Justin before other people could set the narrative to him. But even after looking everywhere she still couldn't find her boyfriend.

She finally came up to the bar and saw Marco's other dorky friend talking to that weird Gothic German girl from class.

"Ich möchte ein hochwertiges Bier, nicht das billige Zeug in diesem scheckigen Fass." Ingrid said to Alfonzo as he stood behind the bar mixing drinks.

"Okay..." He understood a tiny bit of German but most of it was gibberish. He reached into a cooler and pulled out one of the special beers Janna had brought. "Try this."

Ingrid accepted the beer and popped off the bottle cap and took a slow sip. "Nicht schlecht ... seine seltene, dass jemand mich versteht ... Ich liebte Sie like."

Brittney didn't want to waste any time so she walked right between them and Gave Alfonzo a death glare. "Where is Justin?"

Alfonzo nervously pointed to the back. "I think he went upstairs."

Brittney didn't say another word and simply turned on her heels and walked straight for the stairs. As if fate hated her who else would she run into except Marco Diaz as he entered the house from the backyard.

"Hey...Brittney." Marco began nervously. "How are you doing?"

Brittney chose to try to be civil for the sake of finding Justin and getting the hell away from this party. "Looking for Justin, your dorky friend said he was upstairs." She began walking up the stairs and much to her displeasure Marco began to follow her.

"I doubt it, the only thing upstairs are the bedrooms." Marco said as he walked alongside Brittney. "Look Brittney...about earlier"

"Don't say anything Diaz."

"Please..." Marco pleaded. "I'm really sorry about what happened."

That shocked Brittney. She never expected him to apologize especially since she had punched him and kicked him. There was a part of her that wanted to talk to him but it was overcome by her desire for the night to end and for her to get away from this party. "Whatever Diaz, just help me find Justin and we will never speak of this night again."

"Fair enough."

"Oh Yeah!" A voice called out from down the hall.

Both Marco and Brittney turned to one of the doors in the hallway where they heard the voice call out from.

"Wait...that's my room..." Marco muttered as he realized that someone had gone into his bedroom.

"That was Justin's voice..."

Brittney opened up Marcos door and both her and Marco went into the room. What they saw made both of them scream.

"OH MY GOD!" Brittney yelled in horror and anger. "Justin you piece of shit!"

"What the hell Oskar!" Marco screamed as he looked upon the scene before him before clutching his hands over his eyes. "That image is going to be burned into my brain forever!"

In Marcos bed Oskar and Justin were wrapped up in Marcos sheets and both were very much naked. It didn't take a genus to figure out what they had been doing.

"Brittney..." Justin began as he rubbed the back of his head. Clearly ashamed of what his girlfriend was seeing. "I'm sorry, I've been meaning to tell you for a long time but..." He stopped when he saw the look on the girls face. She had a look of absolute murder on her face, he braced himself for the yelling he would be on the receiving end of.

Brittney opened her mouth and everyone in the room braced for her inevitable yelling. Instead what came out was a soft sob, it was almost inaudible but it rang across the entire room. Everyone looked at Brittney's face and instead of the look of rage she had been sporting earlier all that was left was a look of absolute pain and tears began to pool under her eyes, making her makeup run down her face.

It all added up in her mind, she had noticed Justin sometimes looking at other men but she had ignored it. The fact he never initiated any intimacy with her and numerous other small things she had ignored at the time all made sense.

She turned and ran out of the room.

Justin got up out of the bed and ran after her, not caring that he was still completely naked. "Wait Brittney! Let me explain!" he called out after her retreating form as he ran down the hall naked.

Marco turned to the sole remaining occupant in the room. His friend and comrade Oskar Greason.

"What the hell just happened? Since when has Justin been gay?"

"Since always." Oskar replied as he got up off the bed. "He just isn't open about it like me. Also have you ever heard of knocking?"

"have you ever heard about not having gay sex in your friends bed? I think I'm going to have to burn my sheets now...please tell me it was only the sheets you were having sex on."

"I think so..." Oskar trailed off as he stroked his chin in thought. "To be honest it happened so fast. I was playing the keytar, Justin was talking to me, next thing I know I'm in here getting laid. Its been an amazing night."

Marco rubbed his head with both his hands trying to contain the massive migraine he felt coming on. "Look...this is too much dude. I think you ruined Brittney's life."

"Doesn't matter, had sex."

"Well it does matter. First of all we are going to try and make sure this whole situation with Brittney and Justin doesn't explode. Second you are going to wash my sheets and scrub every surface of my room. Third you are going to give me a high five because my gay best friend got laid!"

Oskar enthusiastically gave Marco a high five. "Hell yeah, finally lost my V-card." He declared proudly. "Cant believe it took this long."

"I'm happy for you Oskar...now lets try to fix this situation."

After Oskar got dressed the two boys walked out of Marco's room and saw Justin leaning against the door to the upstairs bathroom trying his best to talk to Brittney who was locked in.

Justin banged on the bathroom door. "Please Brittney let me come in and we can talk about this." He pleaded. "I meant to tell you I was gay, it just never seemed like the right time."

The three boys could hear sobbing coming from the bathroom. "Fuck you Justin! I dated you for three months!" Brittney screamed from the other side. "Three months of our relationship being a fucking joke. I always thought it was weird that you never tried to have sex with me, I thought I was unattractive. I even started to take diet pills to slim myself down even more, do you have any idea what that did to my self esteem?!"

"Im sorry!" Justin repeated. "I couldn't let anyone know. I don't want my parents to know and I didn't want the team to know. I could lose the quarterback position."

"Its all about you!" Brittney yelled angrily. "What about ME?! You used me…"

Marco and Oskar stood by awkwardly as they watched Justin tried to reason with Brittney. They were interrupted by Janna who stumbled down the hallway as she swayed back and forth.

"Heeeyyyy Marcoooo." Janna slurred as she walked up to Marco, her cheeks red and eyes glazed over. She had tried all night to get the confidence to confess to marco, sadly everytime she had a chance she choked up. So she decided to get drunk and hope the alchohol could fuel her courage. She walked up to her crush with the intention of telling him everything.

"Hey...Janna." Marco replied awkwardly, even with tampons stuck up his nose he could smell the alchohol on her breath as she got uncomfortably close to him. "You okay?"

"Neva been betta." She slurred as she grabbed onto his arm and leaned into him. "so what are you guys up tooooo?"

Oskar explained the situation and the drunk girl could only laugh.

"That's gold!" Janna managed between laughs. "Brittney got cucked by Oskar. I also wouldn't have taken Justin for a fudgepacker."

"Janna got lie down, you're drunk." Marco replied, not enjoying seeing this side of his friend.

"If I lie down are you going to join me?" She leaned in deeply into his arm pressing her breasts against him. Janna couldn't see Marco's face thanks to the mask he was wearing but she saw how surprised his eyes were. Now was her chance.

She was going to reach up and tear off Marco's mask and kiss him, thanks to her newfound bravery she didn't care who saw or what the consequences would be. Right as she reached up she felt bile build up and the back of her throat.

"I think I'm going to Hrrrrrrrggghh" Janna threw up floor causing both Marco and Oskar to leap back as the girls stomach emptied.

"Gross Janna." Oskar muttered in disgust.

"I'm sorry..." Janna muttered, tears building up in her eyes. _'_ _No matter how much I try to show him how I feel I end up messing up.'_ She let out a sob as she heaved another load of vomit. She fell to her knees as she felt her stomach turn inside out. Before she could throw up again she felt strong arms pick her up and saw that Marco was carrying her towards his parents room where the other bathroom was.

Before she knew it her head was facing a toilet as Marco stood behind her. With one hand he was rubbing her back in an attempt to soothe her and with the other he was holding her hair back to keep her from getting vomit in it.

"I'm sorry Marco...I'm so sorry Hrrrggghghg." She muttered as she faced the toilet and emptied her stomach contents into it.

"Its okay Janna, just relax and let it all out." Marco soothed as he continued rubbing the girls back in hopes of helping his friend get better. "I never knew you were such a heavy drinker."

"I hate beer." Janna replied sadly. "I just..." She couldn't tell him she was drinking for courage. With so much booze out of her system she realized she didn't want to confess to Marco like this. She wanted it to be emotional and romantic, not some confession fueled by booze. "I just wanted to live dangerously for one night." She lied as she relaxed into his massaging hand.

"I hear that." Marco muttered sadly. "I did this party to bring some excitement and danger into my life. But its all gone wrong. All I've gotten is bodily injuries, made a fool of myself in front of everyone, my bed covered in other men's bodily fluids, and ruined someones relationship and possibly life."

"Marco you just wanted to try and be popular that's hardly a crime. You can also remove those tampons from your nose, the bleeding should have stopped and they make your voice sound robotic."

Marco removed his mask and took the the pads out of his nose. He felt dry blood and bruising still present on his face so he slid the mask back in place. He didn't want anyone to see his face like that. "All I wanted was some excitement and maybe a bit of danger in my life...but not like this." he muttered as he continued to help Janna as the girl slowly recovered.

* * *

Star Butterfly ran at full speed through the halls of Saint Olga's as quickly as she could manage, which sadly wasn't very fast since all princesses had to wear full princes regalia from a large dress all the way down to uncomfortable shoes.

She had tried leaving through numerous exits the school had but each time she went near one she heard the sounds of battle. She concluded that the school was under attack and therefore escaping through a battle was suicidal.

 _ **If you let me have control I could fight through any battle and get us out of this hellhole.**_

"I'm never letting you have control again, you would kill people."

 _ **Only people who deserve it.**_

Star ignored her other half and ran through the halls until she reached a large circular room. It was a room that was familiar to her as it was the only room in the school with Mewman architecture. Many in the school called it the room of prophecy as it had numerous carvings on the walls that seemed to have religious significance.

Star knew what the room really was though, while its current function was simply an intersection between hallways it showed all the signs of being an old Mewman chapel.

Her people didn't practice religion in the traditional sense like many other people across dimensions. Her people believed in the power of the universe and believed the movements of stars and planets were the ultimate expression of the cosmos. The importance of astronomy and the study of stars were so important to her people that it was tradition that each princess be named after a certain aspect of the cosmos.

While prayer and worship was extremely uncommon in modern Mewman culture it was still believed if you prayed and made a request of the universe that the universe would set things in motion to answer your prayers by manipulating events in your favor. Certain celestial formations were believed to be minor gods of great power that would act on the universe behalf to aid those in need.

Star looked up at the ceiling and saw a painting of two armies of demons, one side was blue and the other red. Both locked in eternal conflict. A representation of the order and chaos that the universe was constantly in and a reference to the good and evil within ones own self.

Looking at the floor she saw the carving of a large crescent moon, a blood moon to be specific. The crescent moon encircled a symbol of a star and a symbol of a blazing sun. A reference to a time back when her people believed that Stars and Suns were separate entities.

Star felt her legs become weak as she fell to her knees in the center of the room. Not knowing what else to do she gazed at the painting above her and prayed.

"Please...I don't know what to do. I've never asked anything of any type of greater power...but please if there is anyone listening. Please help me..." Star pleaded as she earnestly begged the universe for help. She didn't know how long she knelt in prayer but eventually her knees began to feel numb.

"How adorable..." A voice called out from seemingly nowhere.

Star got up and looked around the room but found nothing. There wasn't anyone in the room except her.

"Praying to your God in an hour of need...the last resort of one who has lost everything." The owner of the voice appeared before Star, appearing from seemingly out of nowhere. "Princess Butterfly...I've been wanting to meet you for a long time."

Star gazed upon the creature before her and felt her blood run cold. The Grey skin, yellow eyes, and claws all wrapped in the form of a beautiful woman. "You're...a night sister..."

"Clever girl..." Orianna said in mock reverence. "I'm here for you Princess Butterfly. But before I take you to my master I want to have some fun with you." She rushed forward and grabbed Star by the neck and lifted the girl off the ground, her claws tearing into the flesh of the girls neck.

"Why are you doing this?" Star asked as she fought against the monsters grip.

 _ **Let me have control, I can kill her.**_

Star was in so much pain she couldn't even heed her own inner voice. All she could focus on was the pain and fear she was in.

"Why?" Orianna asked as she dug her claws deeper into the girls neck. "After all that your kind has done to ours you have the nerve to ask why? We used to rule the heartlands of Mewni long before your kind showed up and took them from us. You slaughtered our kind with your magic and made us refugees in our own lands. For thousands of years we have suffered injustice after injustice. But with the Immortal Ones aid we will have our vengeance!"

She threw Star to the ground and Star landed roughly upon the symbol of a star. She was in so much pain she couldn't even move. "Please...someone help..." Star begged as she held herself tightly on the ground.

Orianna laughed at the girls pleas for help. "Go ahead little girl and beg for help. But tell me...where are your Gods now? Call out to them, bring down their wrath upon me." She ordered angrily, she watched in pure malicious delight as Star muttered silent prayers under her breath only for nothing to happen. "You cannot? That is because they have either abandoned you or simply do not exist. To be honest I have no idea which of those two options is more delightful."

She swiped at Stars shoulder with her free claw and felt pleasure as the girl screamed in pain, blood flowing from the new wound. "I cannot kill you...but you will suffer before you meet my master. This isn't a fairy tale little princess. There are no knights or heroes who will come to save you."

Stars blood and tears fell upon the floor and Star felt her vision fading as she watched her blood run out of her. She recalled numerous stories of knights and champions fighting on behalf of princesses in all the stories her mother used to tell her. She remembered thinking it silly that a princess would need anyone to fight on their behalf. She always preferred fighting her own battles.

But now as she lay helpless she wished more then anything that she had a knight in shining armor to save her. The same way her mother described her father as he gallantly defended her from assassins and monsters in battles beyond counting.

"Please...help..." She begged in one last effort. "Please...if anyone is listening...help me..."

The entire room suddenly lit up in a symphony of light. Orianna was blinded by it and released her grip on Star to shield her eyes.

"What trickery is this?!" She demanded angrily as she rubbed her eyes as they burned in her head.

Star gazed at the floor and saw that the symbol of the crescent moon was glowing, its blood red light filling the room. The symbol of a star that was beneath her came to life with brilliant blue light, but what most drew her gaze was the symbol of the sun as it erupted in a pillar of glorious bright orange light.

The symbol for the sun grew so bright the entire room was engulfed in its blaze, blinding everyone and sending forth a shock wave that deafened everyone.

* * *

Marco walked with Janna into the living room and looked around. The party was winding down and people we relaxing as they nursed their drinks. Most of the people were in the kitchen eating and playing some party games.

"Well the house didn't burn down." Marco said as he looked around the house. "It'll take a few days to clean up but my parents don't come back for another week. We managed to pull it off."

"Yeah..." Janna muttered as she leaned against Marco's shoulder too exhausted to care about what others thought. "I'm ready to go to bed and forget this night."

"Me too."

Sabrina walked up to the two of them, the girl was now sporting a black eye.

"What happened Sabrina?" Marco asked as he began to inspect her eye.

"When I heard about what happened with Brittney I decided to mend bridges and offer her some counsel, this is the result of that. She threw a hairdryer at me."

"We should get you some ice." Marco said as he cooed over her injury. Sabrina felt a blush adorn her face as she felt his soft hands run along her bruise.

"Its fine, I've got everything I need right here..." She said, ignoring the look of murder Janna was sending her way.

They were broken from their conversation by screaming coming from the stairs.

"I AM OUT OF HERE!" Brittney screamed as she strode towards the living room with Justin following behind her. She walked up to Marco and Janna and sent him a death glare.

"This is all your fault Diaz!" Brittney yelled as she pushed Marco. "This party ruined my life! I swear if I had one wish right now it would be that you and this entire party would get sucked into a black fucking abyss!"

The second those words left Brittney's mouth a large dark portal sprung up on the far side of the living room and immediately began to suck everything into it. Marco being the person closest was pulled in by its pull until Janna grabbed his hand and tried to pull him away.

The portals pull was too powerful and she began to get pulled in with him.

"What the hell is going on?!" Janna yelled as she held onto Marco for dear life. Numerous other party goers were clutching onto walls and furniture in an attempt to avoid being sucked into the portal.

As Janna began to feel herself being pulled along with Marco she felt slim arms slip around her waist. She turned and saw Sabrina holding onto her. Others decided to follow the cheerleaders example and soon Oskar, Ferguson, Alfonzo, and numerous other party goers who saw what was happened had formed a human chain as they attempted to keep their fellow classmates from being sucked into a portal. Everyone from Jackie, Justin, the football team, and the cheer leading squad were trying to help.

Despite their efforts they were being pulled closer and closer and Marco looked behind himself and saw his feet were about to touch the portal. He looked at his friends and fellow students as they tried in vain to save him.

"Janna...let go."Marco ordered as he realized how hopeless the situation was. "Let go now or everyone will get sucked in."

"No way!" Janna retorted. "I'm not letting you die!"

"Yeah dude, no man left behind!" Ferguson stated.

"You wouldn't let us go, we sure as hell aren't letting you go!" Oskar added.

"I'm not letting go either but seriously what the hell is going on?!" Alfonzo asked as he tried to accept the fact a portal had appeared out of nowhere to suck them all in.

Marco looked at Janna, Sabrina, and all his other friends and classmates. He knew what he hand to do. Janna was clutching onto his right hand. He used his left hand to grip Janna's wrist. "You guys are the best friends I could ever ask for. That's why I cant allow you to do this." Marco looked at Janna's pleading eyes. "I'm sorry Janna." he twisted the girls wrist as hard as he could. She shouted in pain and her grip loosened on Marco.

The second she lost her grip on Marco the boy was sucked into the portal and disappeared, the second he was gone the portal closed up and everyone collapsed onto the ground as the forces that had been pulling them in were gone.

Silence reigned as everyone tried to process what happened, after half a minute all eyes turned to Brittney who was standing in the corner.

"You did this..." Janna growled as she glared at the cheerleader. "You said you wanted him and this party sucked into a black abyss and then a portal opens up and eats Marco….this is your fault!"

"No way I swear I didn't have anything to do with this." Brittney pleaded, her previous mean demeanor gone as she tried to plead her innocence.

"Shes a witch!" Ferguson yelled out as he glared at her.

"She has had congress with the devil!" Alfonzo added.

Lars, a large boy and notorious bully in the school brought a torch seemingly out of nowhere. "If shes a witch I saw we BURN HER!"

"Yeah burn the witch!" Several others chanted.

Janna ignored them all and ran up to Brittney and pinned her against a wall with her hands clutched around the cheerleaders neck.

"YOU BRING HIM BACK RIGHT NOW!" Janna screamed as tears fell down her eyes. "You sent him away now you bring him back!"

"I didn't do anything!" Brittney pleaded as she felt the girls grip around her throat tighten. "I-I swear, I wouldn't do something like that!"

Oskar grabbed Janna and forced her off of Brittney. "Janna stop!" he ordered as he forced his hysterical friend to calm down. "I doubt Brittney's a witch, what we need to do is focus on figuring out what just happened and finding Marco."

The dark haired girl was breathing heavily but managed to get control of herself enough to calm down. "You're right..." Janna muttered as she regained control of her emotions. "But how?"

Oskar looked at the far end of the room where the portal once was.

"I don't know."

* * *

Star shielded her eyes as the light from the symbol of the sun faded. Where there had once been nothing now stood a new figure.

She gazed upon the new figure and her jaw dropped.

The figure was a black clad individual wearing a sleek and suave outfit that made him look like a dashing rogue from the numerous stories she had read when she was a little girl. He had a flowing black cape , a large black hat on his head, and a large sword attached to his belt.

But what stood out most was his mask which looked like a skull but was decorated with numerous designs. The one that drew her attention was a blazing sun painted on the forehead of the mask. Seeing that important celestial symbol made her realize this was a champion sent by the universe to aid her. There was no other explanation that made any sense.

"My champion…my prayers actually worked." Star whispered as she gazed at the figure.

After being sucked through the portal Marco had seen only darkness only to be blinded by blazing light shortly afterwards like he had been staring into the sun. The next thing he knew he was on solid ground and standing in a strange room with two other figures.

He saw a beautiful girl with radiant blond hair laying on the ground next to him. He saw that she was bleeding and as he gazed into her eyes he saw that she was in pain. Looking at the other side of the room he saw a gray skinned woman in red armor pick herself up but it was obvious that there was something off about the woman. Her eyes were yellow, skin Grey, and she had claws instead of hands.

Marco didn't know what was going on but he knew that there was a girl in danger and an apparent monster in the room. For the first time since he had adorned his rapier for his costume he reached for the sword and pulled it from its sheath and got into a standard fencing stance as the creature across from him began to gain its bearings.

Even as he prepared for battle there was only one question on his mind and it was a question he had to vocalize.

"What the fuck is going on?"

* * *

 **Authors note**

 **Fuuuuuu that was a long one 17,665 words not counting the disclaimer. I wanted to end it at around 10,000 but….I don't know what happened.**

 **First off thank you all for the amazing response and wonderful reviews. I never expect this story to get a quarter of the response it has received. It makes me happy but also nervous as people actually have expectations for this story lol. Its very challenging to write especially since English isn't my first language, even though I was born in America.**

 **For those of you who don't know the room of prophecy Star was in is based on a room in Saint Olga's that can be seen in the show. On the floor there is a blood moon encircling a sun and star. Id decided to use the room as the centerpiece of Marco and Stars meeting due to the symbolism involved.**

 **Star's mind is now split in two. Originally I planned to have her either break and be a helpless perfect princess, or go full angry dark Star. But I didn't ,like the way the story would go if she was either of those extremes so I chose to have two Stars embodying her most extreme traits. Should be interesting to write her from now on.**

 **Now to answer some questions people have asked.**

 **The harem aspect of the story will be slowly developed and wont come into play until much later. In fact it will be some time until Marco is back on earth, I just wanted to flesh out all his relationships with people early in the story, which is one of the reasons I used a Halloween party as a set piece since its a good way to get all the characters into one place. So don't worry about romance taking over, after this chapter its gonna be plot and action.**

 **Someone asked if I'm open to story suggestions and Ocs.**

 **I'm always open to suggestions, I cant promise Ill use them but I will read them and consider them.**

 **As for Ocs I don't really need any human ones but as you can see Toffee is going to play a part in the story and he has monsters following him. If you have ideas for original monsters or monster characters that Star and Marco could fight against send em to me.**

 **Before anyone asks yes Oculus and Orianna are based on videogame monsters.**

 **Orianna is taken from the Witcher 3, she is the Bruxa seen in the trailer.**

 **Oculus is based on Vel'koz a League of legends champion.**

 **Thank you, No-a-cop,brewer235,Doctor013,Killingtheshadows101,kyoryugerforever,OMAc001,Dominic,Anthrodragon,coldblue,Bloodyninja88,0zeroomegaouroboros,singasongthatnooneleseknows,animefan29,the17thcollossus,nightmaster000,Azuretemplar3535, and 1 for your reviews. You made me try and get this out as quickly as possible.**

 **Please leave a review and suggestions. Happy thanksgiving everyone!**


	3. A Broken Princess

**Disclaimer-I do not own Star vs The Forces of Evil**

* * *

Marco gazed at the strange creature across from him as it glared at him. While it took the form of a woman the Grey skin, yellow eyes, and razor sharp claws made it look like some sort of monster from a fantasy game.

The creature snarled and seemed poised to strike at him as its yellow eyes seemingly glowed in the dim light of the chamber he found himself in. Despite obviously being a monster the creature was a humanoid and was definitely female. The cautious and gentlemanly side of Marco decided that perhaps words could ease the situation.

"Excuse me..." Marco struggled to figure out what to call the monster standing across from him. "Madam...I don't know whats going on here but I would prefer if we could talk things over and part amicably." He offered in the calmest tone he could manage as he lowered his sword in an attempt to appear noncompetitive, all the while being ready to strike at a moments notice.

Orianna cocked her head at the intruder curiously. The new arrival was obviously male and young, she had assumed the princess had used some sort of summoning spell to bring forth a hero or spirit familiar. Yet this individual seemed confused as to why he was here. She sniffed the air as she gazed at the boy, her enhanced senses giving her a great deal of information. "You...are not Mewman." Orianna stated as her yellow eyes looked upon the strangers form.

"Mewman?" Marco asked the foreign word feeling strange on his tongue. "I'm a human from earth. I was minding my own business when a portal swallowed me up and brought me here."

Orianna smiled at that information. "Well...if that's true then I would appreciate it if you would step aside and let me finish my business with the girl behind you." She said as he gaze went to the prone form of Star Butterfly as the princess clutched her wounded arm and watched the exchange with fearful eyes.

"What type of business?" Marco asked in a serious tone as he didn't like the bloodthirsty look the creature across from him was sending the injured girl.

"Does it matter?" Orianna asked as she held a bloodied claw up before her. "You can either walk away unharmed or I can go through you. The Immortal One demands that the girl be brought to him and I will fulfill his wishes."

"Please don't let her take me."Star begged in a weak voice as she clutched her bleeding shoulder.

Marco looked at the injured girl next to him and took up a position in front of her so as to block her from the other woman's path. He resumed his combat stance. "I wont pretend to know what is going on but my father taught me to always protect those in need, especially ladies. You will not take her."

Marco sounded brave and maintained a calm demeanor but inside he was in turmoil. He had sparred numerous times in all his karate classes, and even crossed practice blades in fencing and kendo but this was the real deal. He hadn't been in a fight since last year when several bullies had tried to beat up Oskar for being gay which ended up being a one-sided fight since those chumps had been all bark with no bite.

' _White Knight mode activated, hope I don't die.'_ He thought to himself grimly as he realized the risk he was taking.

"So you wish to die in vain protecting a princess?" Orianna asked as she got into a fighting stance. "As you wish." The second those words left her mouth she instantly disappeared from sight, turning invisible right before Marco's eyes.

Marco's eyes widened in surprise but he immediately recovered and began scanning the room. He heard light footsteps coming from directly in front of him and he could see a small shadow on the ground approaching him quickly. _'She might be_ _invisible_ _but her footfalls and shadows still show.'_ He thought as she reappeared in front of him lunging her clawed hand at his head.

Marco immediately sidestepped the strike much to Orianna's surprise. She leaped back with all the skill of an acrobat as Marco brought his blade down right on the space her head had occupied a second ago. Once again she disappeared from view and Marco did his best to scan the room for signs of her.

He heard her footsteps coming from behind him so he quickly turned around and swung his blade in an arc at where he believed the monstrous woman was. Much to his surprise he felt the blade make contact with something but it repelled his attack as if he had crossed swords with someone. Orianna reappeared revealing that she had blocked the sword with her clawed hand.

Marco brought his sword back and delivered a strong vertical slice in an attempt to cut the woman in half but Orianna showed amazing flexibility and like a limbo dancer bent herself backwards ducking under the blade.

This continued one for several swings as each time Marco attempted to cut the woman she showed inhuman flexibility and simply danced around his strikes until Marco followed up one of his strikes with a vicious left hook from his free hand that struck the monster in her chest.

This caused her to falter slightly which gave him the chance to deliver a vicious vertical strike on her which she managed to mostly block with her claw but the blade did manage to cleave some flesh from her forearm due to her hasty block. Marco knew that a rapier wasn't a cutting weapon but stabbing simply wasn't an option due to how the monster could get into his guard so easily. Luckily his blade had never been used and was still factory sharp enough to do some decent damage.

Orianna roared in anger and charged at Marco, delivered several quick successive attacks on him most of which he blocked but the last one struck his sword hand causing him to lose the grip on his sword sending the blade flying across the room until it clattered on the floor quite away from him.

Not wasting any time she delivered a vicious punch to the boys stomach, knocking the wind out of him before turning invisible and disappearing once more.

Marco clutched his right side where the monster had punched him and looked around the room frantically trying to figure out where she would come from next. His gaze flickered around but he didn't see her shadow or hear her footsteps.

Marco was breathing heavily the adrenaline coursed through his veins. He heard a footstep behind him and turned around only to be greeted by a clawed hand slashing at his face. Luckily his mask took the blow and he was able to jump back away from Orianna. The only victim of her attack was his mask which bore three slash marks that went over the right side of the mask.

Orianna turned invisible once more and disappeared from sight. Marco let out a frustrated grunt at playing this game of hide and seek. But before he could even try to find out where she was he felt two hands lock onto his shoulders from behind and a mouth full of razor sharp teeth sink into the flesh between his shoulder and neck.

Orianna was prepared to sink her fangs deep into the boys neck and rip out his throat but before she could sink them in deep Marco threw a strong punch at her face that struck her square in the nose. She threw her head back in pain but before she could recover Marco gripped her head with both his hands and used all his strength to perform a shoulder throw that sent her flying forward as he threw her across the room.

"Dammit!" Marco grunted as he gripped the bleeding flesh on his shoulder, trying to ignore the warm blood and sharp pain. He looked over at his opponent and saw that while her nose was obviously broken from his punch she was recovering quickly.

Star had been watching the entire fight in silent amazement. She watched as the warrior she had summoned fought a night sister on her behalf. She silently cheered every time he delivered a blow and gasped in horror whenever he suffered an injury or was put at risk.

When his sword was knocked from his hands she had to resist screaming, the only one who seemed calm was her other half who had been silent ever since her hero had shown up.

 _ **Looks like your champion needs help.**_

 _He has it under control!_

 _ **Fine, stand by helplessly as your hero dies in vain trying to save you.**_

Star knew she couldn't fight like her darker half but she knew how she could help. While her hero was fighting the monster she fought through the pain in her shoulder and got up and tried her best to sneak to where his sword had fallen.

Star eventually reached the sword and picked it up just as her champion screamed in pain from the night sister biting into his neck. Star almost screamed as she watched him get hurt but he quickly punched her and threw her off. She knew her time had come to aid her champion.

"I have your sword champion!" Star called out drawing the masked boys attention. She tossed the sword to him with all her might and with extreme dexterity he caught it perfectly.

"Thank you!" Marco called out as he faced his opponent who was recovering. Not wanting to give the monster a chance he ran up to her and went on the offensive. He knew his rapier was terrible when it came to slashing so he went in for stabbing. Orianna had managed to right herself and managed to sidestep Marco's initial lunge.

Marco didn't give his opponent a chance to enter into his guard and kept up with his strategy of stabbing to keep Orianna on the defense. He used expert footwork to attack and retreat in rapid succession and he managed to land numerous small tiny blows on his opponent. While none of them were threatening they made the monster bleed and he could tell she was growing angry.

Orianna let out a frustrated shriek as she turned invisible once more, disappearing from the room.

It took all of Marco's self control to not scream in frustration as his opponent once again fled. "We could go on fighting like this forever..." He muttered under his breath as he turned round and round the room looking for any sign of his opponent. All he saw was an empty room with only the princess he was protecting hiding in the far end.

He stopped looking around the room when he heard a light sound of dripping and saw small droplets of blood falling on the floor right before him. It took his brain only a second to figure out what was happening and he quickly grasped his blade with both hands and pointed it upwards right as Orianna let go of her grip on the ceiling and leaped at Marco from her vantage point.

Orianna couldn't stop her descent even as she saw herself falling towards Marco's blade, her ambush tactic had been turned on her and she could only watch in horror as she fell onto Marco's awaiting sword, impaling herself on it.

Marco felt the full weight of his opponent fall onto his rapier and winced as his enemies weight fell upon him. He fell to the ground holding his sword while his opponent lay on top of him, impaled through her stomach. If it hadn't been for the blood, and violence Marco would have been embarrassed by the compromising position he found himself in. Instead he threw his opponent off of him and rolled away from her before helping himself up off the ground.

His sword had snapped in half, the factory metal and thinness of the blade breaking under the force of an entire body landing on it at an awkward angle. Marco clutched the handle which still held half of the sword and looked at his opponent.

Orianna was clutching her stomach in pain as her lifeblood spilled from her at an extremely fast rate. Her gaze flickered to her opponent as she tried to raise herself only to fall on her back and shriek as the pain in her stomach overcame her.

Marco didn't waste any time and ran at her with his broken sword and raised it above his head and rammed it into his opponents chest where he believed her heart was. Orianna attempted to block it with her hands but it was useless. Marco's sword met its mark and once it was buried into her chest he jumped back to avoid her flailing claws.

Marco's heart was pumping he felt a feeling of elation followed quickly by horror as he watched his opponent as she died. His survival instincts and adrenaline calmed down and he was forced to watch as another living being died because of him.

To add to his horror Orianna's form changed, gone was the Grey skin, sharp teeth, and claws as her formed reverted back to her Mewman-like form which looked exactly like a young human woman.

Orianna felt her life leaving her as her blood spilled freely from the wounds in her stomach and chest. She turned her gaze on the man who had killed her, his brown eyes were hard behind his mask and he was coated in a combination of both their bloods. She knew her death was her own doing, her kind were meant for ambushing people in the wilds and quickly retreating using their stealth to hide. She allowed her pride to overcome her as she believed that a young man wouldn't stand a chance against her. Now she was paying the ultimate price for her arrogance.

Tears fell from her eyes freely as she felt her body shutting down. She wasn't in pain anymore, all she felt was sadness. She knew that the Immortal One would create a world where her kind all all other monsters could live freely out of the shadows of the wilds. It was a world she had desperately wanted to be a part of. But with her death she would never get to see that world.

She gazed at her killer as she felt herself slipping into oblivion, the man who had robbed her of her dream. "And they call me a monster..." was all she said as she breathed her last.

Marco dropped the broken sword he was clutching and looked down at his hands which were covered in blood. The full weight of what he had done had struck him and he felt a little ill. The body of his enemy looked like any normal human woman and it filled him with horror.

"You saved me, thank you good sir."

Marco turned to the other girl in the room, the girl who had been calling him her champion. It was the first time he could truly get a good luck at her, at a passing glance she had seemed to be a pretty girl around his age in a large blue dress but now he could really take in her features.

She looked like she had walked out of a Disney princess movie. Her dress while stained with blood was made out of fabrics that looked expensive and the dress itself was clearly custom made since it fit her in a way no store bought dress could.

She had long blond hair, crystal blue eyes, and an air of innocence about her. The only thing strange he could see was the apparent heart tattoos that adorned her cheeks. It seemed so strange for an otherwise traditional princess to have something as risque as face tattoos.

Marco ended his observation of her and decided to address her. "Happy to help." he responded lamely, not sure what else to say. He turned to the corpse of his enemy and felt another wave of guilt hit him. "I didn't want it to end violently...I didn't want anyone to die..."

Following the boys gaze Star frowned slightly as she saw the body of the one who tried to kill her. "She was a monster, despite how she might look now a night sister is one of Mewni's deadliest creatures. They might look like a Mewman but they are bloodthirsty in a literal and figurative sense." She gave the boy across from her a comforting smile. "If you hadn't killed her she would have killed me. I owe you my life champion."

Marco felt a great deal of relief upon hearing that but still felt guilty. He didn't have much time to think about that guilt as the girl closed the distance between the two of them and gave him a hug. Marco felt a bit awkward being hugged so suddenly but decided to return the hug to avoid being rude.

The two were so wrapped up in their hug that they didn't notice the carving of a crescent moon that decorated the chambers floor was glowing a blood red.

The embrace lasted for a good ten seconds before Star suddenly realized what she was doing and broke the hug. The red light that filled the room faded from the carving of the moon on the ground and the room once more returned to its normal lighting conditions.

"Forgive me Sir." Star apologized as she gave Marco a slight bow. "I did not mean to be so familiar or engage in unwarranted physical interaction with you. I apologize." She stated formally, returning once more to her royal demeanor.

Marco rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "No problem at all...um Miss." He realized he didn't know this girls name.

Star realized she hadn't introduced herself and mentally chided herself for her lack of manners."Forgive me for not introducing myself. My name is Star Butterfly." She gave him a perfect bow. "So what is your name good sir? To whom do I, Star Butterfly crown princess of Mewni owe my life?" She asked grandly in a proper princess-like fashion.

Marco rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Marco Diaz at your service your majesty." He answered in what he hoped was the proper way, still not believing what was going on. "Can I ask you a question ?"

"Speak freely Sir Marco Diaz."

"Where am I and why am I here?"

Star realized that while she had summoned a champion to save her she hadn't really thought what it must be like to be summoned. One day your minding your own business and suddenly your in a fight to the death with a monster in a strange location. Her champion needed some answers. "Well I better start from the beginning..."

Star gave Marco an abridged version of the events that had led her to this place. Her life on Mewni, her parents sending her Saint Olga's , the terrible things the staff did to herself and others here, her escape, and how when she was cornered by the night sister she had called out for help and he had arrived.

Marco listened to each word and could hardly believe what he was hearing. Magic, other dimensions, schools that shattered your mind, and numerous other things that sounded like the ravings of a mad homeless person on the side of the street. Yet here he was in the middle of all the madness living it. Luckily if there was one thing he was good at it was going with the flow.

"Then you appeared right here on the symbol of the sun."Star stated happily as she pointed at the stone engraving on the ground. "When I saw your mask I knew that you were a champion sent to aid me. In Mewni only the greatest of knights are allowed to use the Sun as their sigil as it is a sacred celestial symbol to our people."

"In that case...Praise the Sun?" Marco muttered as he rubbed the forehead of his mask where the symbol of a sun was located. He had painted it years ago to use for a Day of the Dead festival. "Well I'm not a champion. I'm just a guy who was hosting a costume party when a portal appeared and swallowed me up."

Star mouth dropped open in utter surprise at the boys words, while her darker half was laughing.

 _ **Ha! Your champion is just some asshole you pulled from a party!**_

Star shook her darker half's laughter from her head. Despite that new bit of information she was still sure of this boy being sent to save her. "You are a champion. You might come from humble and unlikely origins but that doesn't change the fact that when I called for help you were the one the universe sent to aid me. Not to mention then fact that you clearly have combat training."

"Well yeah I guess so..." Marco agreed, while his hobbies were more sports based they definitely did give him some combat skills, more then the average person anyway. "But I'm hardly the stuff of legends."

"A young man of humble origins is swept away on journey beyond his wildest dreams. He meets a princess and saves her. Once they make their escape she grants him boons and he returns homes triumphant." Star declared in a dreamy voice. "Its like a story right out of a fairy tale. This is how legends are born."

 _ **Good Gods you are nauseatingly naive. I cant literally throw up in our mouth since I'm not in control of our body but if I was there would be projectile vomiting going on right now.**_

 _Be silent. He was sent by the universe to aid us in our hour of need. Now we can finally escape this place._

"Well...okay." Marco agreed not sure what else to say. "Regardless of whether I'm a hero or not I need to get back home and you need to escape from this place. My parents taught me to always aid those in need so I will do my best to get you out of here and protect you from...monsters." He looked over at the corpse of the night sister he had slain earlier. If every monster around here was like her he wasn't sure if he would be able to protect Star all that well but he had to try. "But once we get out of here I need a portal or a ride back to my home."

"Of course! Anything for my champion!" Star declared happily. "You will be sent home and be rewarded handsomely with anything you desire. Gold, jewels, rare silks, and even women."

"A ride home will be enough. No money or women required."

Stars expression turned troubled upon hearing those words. "Whats wrong?" She asked in a concerned tone. "Are the rewards not good enough? My kingdom is one of the richest across all dimensions so our gold and jewels are of the highest quality. Plus our courtesans and concubines are also legendary in their abilities. Unless you prefer men instead of women which is easily remedied. We have plenty of male courtesans who could attend to you if that's what you desire."

If Marco had been drinking something he would have done the most legendary spit-take of all time upon hearing Stars words. Instead he merely coughed into his hand awkwardly as he responded. "I-I didn't mean to say it like that. Its just that no reward is necessary. I'm helping you because I want to and because its the right thing to do. Also on the subject of courtesans I prefer women, but that's not necessary since I don't partake in those types of….services." Marco finished, his face red as tomato as he had to explain himself.

Star smiled upon hearing that. "That's wonderful, I thought our rewards weren't good enough, it turns out your just being all selfless and humble. Truly you are a hero like out of the stories" She stated happily. "But regardless of that you must be rewarded. It would shame my family and people if we didn't reward the man who saved me."

"Look I haven't saved you yet." Marco interjected in an attempt to change the subject. "You'll be saved when I get you out of here. I also need to patch you up, you've got blood on your neck and shoulder." He pointed out as he gazed at the blood staining her silk dress.

Star looked herself over and saw that she did have quite a bit of blood from the night sisters claws, but the cuts were shallow and had stopped bleeding. Instead she focused on the boy across from her. "You're the one who should be worried, I saw her sink her teeth into your neck." She gestured towards his wound. "Besides the nurse's office is far away and I don't have any medical supplies."

Marco rubbed the wound on his neck. "I punched her before her fangs went deep so my wound is fine." He stated as he lifted up his costumes shirt revealing his trusty fanny pack. "As for medical supplies I've got plenty available."

Star attempted to focus on the strange pack the boy had slung across his mid chest. But she couldn't help but let her gaze drift as the boy across from her revealed his abs. "That's...wonderful." She stuttered as she tried to ignore his muscled chest.

 _ **Mmmmm I take it back, I like him coming to our rescue.**_

 _Be silent! You sound like a dog in heat!_

 _ **We might as well be. Two years without a boy in sight and now he shows up. Before our mind was shattered Star was considering taking up Pixie Princess on her late night invitations.**_

Marco unhooked his trusty fanny pack and opened it up revealing a bunch of first aid supplies. "This is my medical emergency one. I've got bandages, gauze, alcohol, a space blanket, everything you would need in an emergency."

"Why do you carry all that stuff around?" Star asked she she did her best to focus on his face.

"One of my friends is always injuring herself so I carry this all the time." Marco answered happily. "Lets get you patched up and then we can get out of here."

* * *

Toffee stood before the entrance to the schools main building and let out a sigh of relief. Around him his troops were battling the guards of the school with renewed vigor. His men were stronger but the guards had better equipment and there seemed to be no end to them.

"Bring down the door!" Toffee ordered as he pointed towards the imposing door that would allow him entrance into the school itself.

Several burly trolls equipped in full battle armor carried a large battering ram and began to slam it against the schools door. The ram rang heavily against the strong wood and metal reinforcements but the trolls were strong and they used their amazing strength to strike the ram against the door with enough force to make the adjacent stone walls shake.

After thirty seconds of ramming the door it fell apart, wood and metal cracking open. Toffee smiled at the sight only for his smile to turn into a frown as four giant metal constructs crashed through the door from the other side.

The constructs were pure metal and were enormous, easily three times taller then even the trolls. They were shaped like a basic humanoid with two arms and two legs. Their giant arms crackled with electricity showing that they were designed for battle.

The first one out of the door grabbed a troll in each of its enormous hands and sent massive electrical energy into both trolls which were helpless against its mechanical grip. It dropped the two defeated monsters and began assaulting the other trolls and its three other companions joined the fray.

Toffee could only watch as his monsters attempted to fight against the giant metal constructs. "Defense Golem's...just my luck." The lizard muttered angrily as he watched his forces attempt to fight back the constructs. "Where is the Oculus?!"

The creature in question was nearby, Oculus floated above the ground in the middle of the battle between Toffees forces and the schools guards. Its numerous eyes were focused on a guard that was imprisoned by one of the creatures massive purple tentacles.

" **Organic construct, bipedal, endo-skeletal, originates from Andromeda dimension...your essence will add to my perfection."** Oculus declared. He was one of many Voidborn that were born of the darkest areas of Mewni. Like all of his kind he hunted the essence of others in order to evolve themselves.

While most of the guards at Saint Olga's were robots, the elite guards were mercenaries hired from across numerous dimensions. Most had no morals and were content with getting paid large amounts of money to wrangle princess's and cared little for what went on at the school since they were paid for their silence. The guard Oculus was holding was one such man and he screamed as he felt the tentacle that held him tighten. Oculus raised several other tentacles in the air and much to the guards horror the tentacles spawned mouths filled with razor sharp teeth.

" **Your essence is mine."** Oculus stated coldly as the tentacles descended upon the guard. The razor sharp teeth easily tore through his armor and in a matter of seconds nothing was left except for a few bloody articles of clothing that fell to the ground.

" **Increased immune system by three percent, discovered ability to create tertiary organs without adding mass. Must find more essence."** Oculus stated as it floated through the battlefield batting away enemies and allies alike in its pursuit of evolutionary benefits. Its pursuit was halted by the familiar form of Toffee appearing in front of him.

"I'm glad to see you're having so much fun but we have a battle to win." Toffee stated as he stared down the creature before him. "I need a battlefield analysis on why we cant open up dimensional portals to summon reinforcements. I also need your to aid in bringing down the golem defenders."

Oculus glared at the monster before him, his many eyes glowing a dark purple. Toffee didn't flinch away from the monsters terrible glare and returned it with one of his own. After several seconds of glaring at one another Oculus backed down and the purple light emanating from its many eyes dimmed.

" **As you wish Immortal One..."** The creature muttered angrily as its eyes scanned the area around it taking in numerous bits of information. **"Detecting a Tramorfidian crystal in northwest tower. So long as it exists no rift can sustain itself within or around this school."**

"Then bring that tower down now." Toffee ordered much to the floating monsters annoyance.

" **Activating Disintegration Ray."** Oculus stated as its central eye gathered energy into itself. After several seconds a magenta beam of energy shot out of its eye and struck the tower disabling the crystal and lowering the schools defenses against portals.

"Bring in the reinforcements now!" Toffee ordered over the sounds of battle. Several monsters pulled out pairs of dimensional scissors and immediately began opening portals to Mewni. From these portals hordes of other monsters poured out.

Toffee glared at these new arrivals, they were the weak monsters that were unreliable in difficult situations. They were the type of monsters that served weaklings such as Ludo and numerous other monster leaders around Mewni who believed themselves powerful. He hadn't trusted them to maintain order during the siege itself but will the wall down all he needed them to do was cause chaos. What they lacked in strength they more then made up for in pure numbers.

Toffee walked up to one of his Naga battle commanders with Oculus in tow. He turned to the fellow reptile and gave his next command. "Once the golem's have been defeated and the courtyard secured I want groups of the weakest and most expendable monsters we have organized into raiding parties and sent into the school." Toffee ordered as he surveyed the battle.

"Why our weakest Immortal One?" The Naga asked, confusion evident in his voice.

"There are bound to be traps or even kill zones set up by the schools defenders. I don't want to lose our elite units to them." He explained. "So send in the weak ones first then we will mobilize the rest to take the school."

* * *

Glossaryck had lived since time immemorial. He was one of the few beings on Mewni who was alive before the First Mewmans had even arrived on the shores of the lands that would become known as modern Mewni. He had trained and advised some of the greatest Queens the multiverse had ever seen with many turning out to be just and noble and many others turning into cruel tyrants.

Despite his eons of experience and knowledge he found himself in a rather annoying situation. He was currently trapped in a small cage and had been there for some time.

Being a powerful being of magic he was rather powerful in his own way. However he was currently trapped in a cage that negated all forms of magic within it.

Usually this wouldn't have concerned him, he had been a prisoner before and quite often it was of his own free will. Many Queens could attest to Glossaryck seeming to know what would happen, planning actions around future events as if he had a crystal ball that could see all.

In truth he did have the ability to see numerous futures, however he was hardly all knowing. He could see the numerous futures that each choice he and others made would bring. It was like looking at numerous trails of sand that danced around him and laid out trails to numerous futures, always branching out in different directions every single time an important choice existed.

He couldn't see the mundane choices of day to day life, otherwise he would use his ability to find out which bag had the perfect chip within it. But he could see every choice that the universe deemed important. While he could see the possible futures from ones actions he could never know which choice a person would make due to free will.

He did his best to steer the queens he served to good futures and tried his best to keep them away from darker ones. But his influence was limited and there were some choices even he couldn't see. Not even he could see what would happen to Star at this school, otherwise he would have advised the queen against sending her here. But now it was too late and he was a prisoner much like Star.

The worst part of the situation was the fact that in this cage his magic was gone and therefore he couldn't see any futures. He had no idea what choices to make or what to do. For the first time in ages he was frozen by indecision.

He was shaken from his thoughts by the sounds of an explosion and the entire school shaking. The cage he was in was on a table and the shock from the explosion knocked the metal cage off the table and onto the hard stone floor.

The cage held firm but the crystal that kept his magic suppressed fell out of its slot and shattered on the ground. Glossaryck felt a great deal of power return to him. He attempted to stand up but immediately fell back down.

"Gonna take awhile to get my strength back." He muttered as he looked around the room. He was in the contraband room along with everything else the school deemed unsuitable for a princess. He used what little magic he had to summon a piece of paper and pen and immediately began writing a letter.

"Must inform the queen of whats happening." He wrote down a quick but detailed letter about what had happened. He looked over to where his Spell Book was and gave out a loud whistle. "Timothy! I need your wings!"

Out of the book flew a giant moth that landed next to Glossaryck. It was one of his many companions and he immediately handed the letter to his insect familiar." Take this to Moon Butterfly immediately, her daughters fate rests on your hands." he said as he raised his right hand and opened a small portal in front of him. "Go now!"

The moth gave a sloppy salute and flew through the small portal. Glossaryck closed the portal and began formulating his next course of action. It had been so long since he could see possible futures that he was bombarded with information when he tried. So many dark paths presented themselves before him each one terrible in their own right and there were no good futures laying down those roads.

After what seemed like an eternity of searching he found one path that had the chance to be a good future. He looked at the choice before him and nodded.

"The best possible future is one where I sit here and wait for Star to come to me...well that's something I can get behind." He said as he summoned a small armchair and drink and relaxed as he waited for his rescue by the princess.

* * *

"I'm telling you a portal opened up and sucked him in!" Oskar declared as he stood with numerous other teenagers in the Diaz households living room. Across from them were several police officers who had looks of utter disbelief on their faces.

"Yeah…" The head detective muttered as he took down all the things the kids had been telling him. "So he was sucked in by a portal that the Chinese girl summoned?"

"I'm telling you she's a witch!" One of the teens in the back screamed as he pointed at the girl in question.

"She killed Diaz!"

"We need to imprison her lest she imprison our souls in gems and use them to enchant her robes and wands!"

Brittney was holding herself tightly, her makeup smeared from hours of crying. First from the incident in the closet, then from her now ex-boyfriend cheating on her with a man, and now from everyone calling her a witch and holding her responsible for Marco getting sucked into a portal.

The only thing that was standing between her and the angry mob was several police officers and her ex-boyfriend Justin who despite everything that had happened was still trying to protect her from his fellow classmates.

"I still say we should burn her!" Lars called out as he held a gas can and a lighter. "Its the only way we can be certain she cant harm us with her evil ways!"

"Deputy make sure that boy doesn't blow us all to hell." The head detective ordered as one of his officers went over to stop Lars from burning Brittney. "Now you, David Bowie." he gestured towards Oskar who was still dressed as Jareth. "Start from the beginning and explain what the heck happened here."

Oskar wanted to tear his hair out from his head. "I've told you what happened a trillion times!"

"First off no one has told anyone anything that amount of times. The only thing I can assume from all this is someone slipped some sort of drug into the punch bowl or brought some brownies that were spiked with weed. Which from the looks of this party is a possibility." he said as he looked around the room. "Even if you were telling the truth and it turns out he was sucked into a magic portal there isn't much we can do. We are police officers not wizards." The head detective stated. "Clearly all of you suffered some massive drug induced hallucination or your friend got eaten by a black abyss. Right now I'm not sure which one it is."

"Test me and you'll find there's no drugs in me." Janna stated as she walked forward and held out her bare arm. "Take my blood if you have to. We are not lying, Marco was sucked up by a portal and now he's gone. You need to find him."

The head detective rubbed his head in frustration. "Look we will put out a missing persons report and alert every officer to keep an eye out for your friend. We'll also call the boys parents and inform them of what has happened. Beyond that we cant do anything."

"That's it?!" Ferguson called out in frustration. "He was sucked into a portal and you want to file a missing persons report?! Why the hell do we even pay taxes if this is the best you can do?!"

"Look kid the last time we dealt with anything magical it was two years ago when this crazy purple haired lady burnt down half the park, turned into a giant rage monster, then flew off into space." The detective responded. "We deal with the physical world, whenever magical stuff happens its outside of our jurisdiction. We find its best to ignore magical happenings since they seem to sort themselves out."

Not much else happened after the initial questioning. The police questioned everyone and got their police reports done. After analyzing the crime scene they quarantined the house and filed a missing persons report for Marco Diaz.

After being question by the police for several hours Oskar, Janna, Alfonzo, and Ferguson found themselves sitting in Oskar's car while Janna spoke to Mr and Mrs. Diaz over speaker phone.

" _We just don't understand how this could have happened."_ Mrs. Diaz cried as she tried to understand what the teens were saying. _"We spoke to the police but nothing they say makes sense."_

"Look we don't know what happened either but you have to believe us. Marco was sucked into a giant portal and disappeared."Janna said as she tried to hold back her won tears as she heard Marco's mothers cry's.

"We will find him Mrs. Diaz." Oskar promised as he spoke towards the phone in Janna's hand.

"You can count on us." Ferguson stated. "I'm gonna head home and make missing posters tonight and post them all over town in the morning."

"I'm gonna go online and post about this as much as possible and create a website where people can post anything they might know about Marco." Alfonzo promised as he thought about the best ways to spread the word online.

" _Okay...we will be coming home early from our vacation. Hopefully we will be back by tomorrow night."_ Mrs. Diaz stated sadly over the phone.

"We're so sorry about all this. The party was our idea, Marco didn't want to do it at first but we just kept pressuring him..." Janna stated sadly as she remembered his initial resistance to the party.

" _Don't blame yourselves kids. We know you wouldn't do anything to intentionally put Marco at risk. We'll be back soon."_ Mr. Diaz said over the phone. _"We need to head out now, talk to you kids later."_

The line went dead and the four teens were left alone in Oskar's car. The silence lasted throughout the entire drive as Oskar dropped everyone off to their respective houses.

* * *

"Lead the way." Marco said as he followed Star as she led him through the schools creepy and dark corridors. The princess knew the halls like the back of hand after being led around them for two years and led him through them with confidence.

"We need some dimensional scissors to get out of here." Star stated as she peered around a corner to make sure the hall was clear. "They are stored in the contraband room along with my wand and spell book. We need those if we are even going to have a chance at escaping."

"Okay that should be easy." Marco said as he followed the girl. The entire school was suddenly shaking from what sounded like an explosion. "What the hell is going on here?" He asked as he held onto a wall to maintain his balance.

"This place is being attacked by someone, I heard fighting at every single exit it tried to find earlier." Star said as she continued leading Marco through the darkened halls. "After nearly being killed by that night sister I can only assume that its monsters that are attacking the school."

"But why?" Marco asked curiously, trying to get a better picture of what was going on. "Why would they attack a messed up reform school for royalty?"

"The night sister said she wanted to take me to the Immortal One, they must be here for me." Star concluded as she recalled the cruel monsters words. She had been too terrified at the time to consider what she was saying but it all started to make sense. "I have no idea who this Immortal one is but if these monsters are from Mewni then they must have come here for me."

"So have they come here to kidnap and ransom you or something?" Marco asked as he processed all the information.

"She said that I was to be brought before the Immortal one alive so that's possible but..." Star trailed off as she thought about all the implications. "After I was born my mother got really sick, as a result she cannot have children anymore. Which means I'm the sole heir to the throne of my kingdom. If they were to hold me ransom they could ask for anything, or worse they could kill me. If I were to die every single one of my cousins would try to claim the throne for themselves. The political discord could throw the entire kingdom into chaos and make it vulnerable."

"Ouch." Marco replied suddenly feeling a lot more pressure on making sure Star was safe. He had to defend the sole heir to an entire kingdom whose existence could mean life or death for many people. "Well lets get you out of here then."

The two walked through the halls until they reached the entrance to the wing of the school where classes in etiquette take place. Star hesitated not wanting to go into that horrible wing of the school again, memories of singing classes and constant tea drinking filling her mind with horror.

"You okay Star?" Marco asked seeing the girl shaking and unable to advance further.

Star was visibly shaking as she stared at the door that would lead them to the classrooms.

 _ **Stop being a coward! If you cant do this then you should let me have control.**_

"I'm not a coward and you will never have control!" Star screamed as she tried to ignore he darker half's words.

"I didn't call you a coward." Marco said as he tried to put a comforting hand on the princess's shoulder. "Are you feeling alright?"

"I'm...sorry." Star uttered as she held onto her head. "I was talking to my..." She struggled to find the right words to describe her darker half. "Do you remember when I was telling you about this place? I mentioned my mind was split in two. I was talking to the...other Star Butterfly."

"Ah..." Marco answered. During Stars explanation of what they did to her here she had said that the institute had split her mind. At the time he thought she was using the term as a metaphor. While he didn't fully understand what that meant his best guess was multiple personality disorder that he had studied in psychology class. "Well...take all the time you need to talk with...the other Star. Just try to avoid yelling, we are trying to be stealthy."

"Forgive me champion. I will try to keep her contained." Star stated grimly.

 _ **You cannot contain me, we are both Star Butterfly. Without me we will never be whole again.**_

Star ignored her words and simply forged on heading through the corridors of the schools etiquette wing with Marco right behind her. Eventually the two of them reached a large room where tea etiquette classes took place.

"Keep your pinkies at ninety degrees, more tea please." Star stated in a zombie-like tone, memories of her endless lessons in the room flooding her mind as she clutched her head in pain. "Keep your pinkies….at...ninety..." She felt Marco grab her and put a hand over her mouth.

"Shhhh I hear someone coming." Marco hushed her and guided her into the corner of the room with one of his hands covering her mouth and the other wrapped around her chest. As they stood in the corner of the room as several dozen monsters of various types walked into the room.

Luckily they seemed in a hurry and were more focused on getting to the adjacent hallway then actually searching the room itself. Marco looked at the creatures and was amazed at their diversity. After fighting the night sister he figured most monsters were humanoids but the group that was walking through the room was an odd mixture of beasts that he couldn't identify.

There was a gray-skinned frog man, a crocodile that walked on humanoid legs, a satyr, several rat humanoids that were about five feet tall and numerous other strange creatures. He felt equal fear and awe as he watched them pass. As they were about to leave the room he began to let his hand fall away from Stars mouth.

"Keep you pinkies at ninety degrees more tea please!" Star yelled the second his hand began falling away, drawing the attention of the monsters who were just about to walk out of earshot.

 _ **Good job Princess Buttercup.**_

"Oh for the love of..." Marco shoved Star in the corner behind him and got ready to fight. The monsters quickly reentered the room and surrounded the two with Marco shielding Star.

"Is that her?" One of the monsters asked as he gazed at the fearful form of Star.

"Shes got the marks of royalty on her cheeks." The Frog-man said as he gazed at the light pink hearts that adorned the blonds cheeks. "The master will know for certain. Step aside boy and give us the girl."

"You want her?" Marco asked as he entered a karate stance. "You'll have to go through me, and I've gotta warn ya I have a black belt in karate!"

"You aren't even wearing a belt! Your lies unravel as they fall from your mouth!" The Frog-man pointed out and everyone's gaze fell on Marco's black leggings which didn't have a belt. "We aren't intimidated by belts regardless of color. Get him boys the kid doesn't have a belt or a weapon on him!" The Frog-man charged at Marco with several of his cohorts following behind him each brandishing a variety of weapons.

Marco let out a deep breath as he prepared his body for battle. The Frog-man hefted a giant black mace in the air and swung it downward with all his might at Marco's form.

Marco sidestepped the attack easily causing the mace to slam into the wooden floor and get stuck. Before the Frog-man could recover from his shock Marco delivered a powerful punch to the side of the monsters face that sent him flying across the room and into one of the walls where he fell to the ground unconscious.

The monsters who had been following the Frog monster stopped in their tracks and stared at the boy in a mixture of shock and rage.

Marco glared at the monsters across from him and he got into another karate stance. "The deadliest weapon is ones own body." He echoed words his sensei had told him on the day he received his black belt. A reminder of his achievement and a warning about the dangers of using karate to harm others.

After several moments of shock the monsters got over it and resumed their attack, using their numbers to attack Marco from all directions.

Marco dodged a hail of various weapons and was thankful that most of the monsters were rather sluggish in their movements and seemed to rely more on their brute strength then any true combat training. He ducked under a swing from the crocodile beast and delivered a roundhouse kick to the monsters face in retaliation. The force of the kick sent the monster flying to the other side of the room and knocked out many of the creatures sharp teeth.

Marco continued to hold his own against the monsters but their numbers were great and he found himself getting backed into a corner. Luckily the room he was in as meant for practicing tea etiquette so he had plenty of tables and chairs to maneuver around so that the monsters couldn't completely box him in. Sadly many of the creatures were so large they simply went through the tables and plowed through them like they were nothing.

"Time to channel the powers of Jackie Chan and use the environment as a weapon." Marco stated as he grabbed a nearby chair and promptly smashed it over the head of a rat monster, knocking the creature unconscious.

He grabbed two legs of the chair that he had broken and used them as makeshift billy clubs as he fought off several monsters that had encroached upon him. He delivered a vicious strike with one of the chair legs to a rat-mans head which promptly snapped the leg. He then used the other chair leg to block several blows from another monsters sword attacks. Marco blocked one blow and the sword got stuck in the wood of the makeshift weapon which stopped the monster from attacking. Marco let go of the chair leg and delivered a vicious roundhouse kick to the monster that sent it flying into several others.

Before he could enjoy the breathing room he had gotten the sound of thundering footsteps filled the room as a large cyclops ran towards Marco, in its hands was a large axe that could easily cut through Marco with even the tiniest bit of effort.

"Furniture cant stop me!" The creature yelled as it descended upon Marco, its large feet trampling tables and chairs in equal measure leaving behind nothing but splintered wood.

Thinking fast Marco reached down and grabbed a sharp piece of wooden debris from a smashed table and with all his strength threw it at the cyclops, striking the creature in the eye. The monster roared in pain and dropped its large weapon so that it could clutch its injured eye.

Marco ran up to the cyclops and delivered the strongest flying jump kick he could manage. His foot felt like it was impacting a metal wall and he had to force himself to ignore the pain in his right foot. The cyclops fell over, crushing several unlucky monsters that happened to be behind the one eyed monster.

Marco barely had time to celebrate before he was punched in the chest by a satyr that manged to sneak up on him. He flew backwards and impacted a nearby table splitting in half as he fell on it. Marco picked himself up and had to roll away another large monsters fist came crashing down where he was. He jumped back to give himself some breathing room and saw many more monsters surrounding him.

Marco was breathing heavily and couldn't help but feel the terrible pain in his chest and foot. "This isn't going well." he muttered as he saw numerous other monsters closing in around him.

Star had watched the entire fight with fear as she watched Marco make a heroic stand against the numerous monsters. Luckily they were so focused on Marco that they didn't even notice Star as she hid behind one of the many tables that filled the room. With each strike Marco took her other half was begging to let her have control.

 _ **You need to let me help him.**_

 _No...I'm never letting you have control again. Not after last time._

 _ **Listen to me…**_

 _I'm never listening to anything you say ever again!_

 _ **Go ahead and play the victim then, but look at your champion.**_

Star looked at Marco and saw a large orc throw a table at the teen which he barely managed to dodge. She could see that he was struggling to hold his ground much less fight back against his enemies.

 _ **He struggles in vain as his enemies use numbers to overwhelm him. Even I have to admit that he is putting up a valiant stand but if you don't let me help him fight it will be his last stand.**_

 _Don't underestimate him!_

 _ **Look I know you don't trust me but if you don't listen to me hes gonna die and its going to be your fault!**_

Star was conflicted and tears fell down her eyes at her other half's words.

 _ **A princess must always aid people in need...even I know that much. Right now he needs help and since you cant fight I'm the only one who can help him. If you really are the embodiment of selflessness then do it for him.**_

Star felt any type of conflict over letting her other half have control fade. She relaxed her mind and released control. "A princess always sacrifices for those in need." She said as she allowed her darker half to take the reigns.

 _ **Finally...I have returned.**_

Once golden hair turned crimson with only a few streaks of blond hair remaining, eyes of perfect crystal blue turned red, and the once pink hearts on Star's cheeks turned pitch black.

Star didn't waste any time and ditched hiding behind a table and strode towards the battle. Marco was holding off half a dozen enemies as the rest of the monsters hung back and waited for an opening to charge in. Some of the monsters stood near the back of the room and were simply egging on their comrades rather then engage in combat themselves.

Star strode up to a satyr that was cheering on its fellow monsters. The creature was holding a double bladed axe as it hung back and enjoyed watching its fellow monsters doing all the fighting. The satyr was brought out of its enjoyment of watching the battle by the feeling of two small hands grabbing its head from behind and putting it in a vice-grip.

" **Break and fall!"** Star yelled as she snapped the satyrs neck causing the creature to fall to the ground in a lifeless heap. Star picked up the creatures double-bladed axe and looked upon the monsters who had heard Star's yelling and saw the Mewni Princess glaring at them.

" **This axe is thirsty."** Star said as she hefted the large weapon in front of her. **"Luckily there's plenty of blood here to quench its thirst."**

The monsters who weren't fighting Marco immediately charged the princess believing that a girl was no match for them. It was the last mistake they ever made.

Star saw an Orc running up towards her with a large wooden club clenched in its burly hands. Star raised her axe and delivered a swift vertical strike which the monster tried to block. The axe cleaved through the club with ease and buried itself into the orcs chest. Blood gushed out of the green skinned orcs chest as the monster let out a pained cry which made Star smile in malicious glee.

" **I** **will teach you to fear us as I slowly cut the courage from each of you!"** Star screamed as she pulled the axe from the monsters chest as it fell lifelessly to the ground. **"I will sow the seeds of strife and you will all die with fear in your hearts!"**

Star ran into the horde of charging monsters and like a whirlwind of blades she rend them asunder. Her strikes were swift and her masterful footwork allowed her to dance around her enemies in a ballet of blood and gore. Limbs flew off and screams filled the room but the screams were drowned out by Stars voice as she ranted and raved at her fallen enemies.

" **I have surpassed the frailty of my form! I feel your suffering, I taste your blood, and I smell your fear….AND I WANT MORE! I want to bathe in your blood, I want to rend your flesh, I want to savor your fear! I WANT TO LIVE IN A CASTLE BUILT OF YOUR AGONY!"**

 _Were we always this psychotic? I don't even remember anymore…_

 _ **You bury our pain and ignore it. I embrace it and it makes me stronger. I think the fact that you're so calm about what had been done to us makes you the psychotic one!**_

The monsters that had been focused on Marco immediately turned away from him and focused on the new threat before them. Marco's first instinct was to aid Star but as he watched her cleave her way through the horde of monsters he realized it would be best if he stayed out of the fight lest he be caught in her crossfire as the girl relentlessly cut through anything near her without prejudice.

Star ducked under a club that one of the monsters and used the opening left from its wide attack to bury the axe deep into its exposed side. **"You will all suffer as we have suffered! Our youth sacrificed for a kingdom of avarice!** **ITS RULERS SITTING UPON A THRONE OF BROKEN TRUST AND LIES** **!"** Star drew the axe back and the monster could only fall as its lifeblood and organs spilled from its side.

After seeing their allies fall so easily to the deranged girl the monsters went on the defensive. Trying to hold their ground as she delivered killing blow after killing blow.

Star was enjoying every second of the battle. All her rage finally had an outlet and she felt exquisite pleasure with each monster she slew. For the first time in ages she felt like she was in control of her own life. **"** **My f** **ear** **has become** **fury,** **my pain has turned to strength** **, and your deaths bring me closer to freedom!"** Star screamed as she delivered blow after blow upon her enemies. Eventually she cut them all down until there was only one left, a small rodent like monster hiding in the corner of the room cowering. Star strode up to it, her once blue dress stained red with blood and her bloody axe clutched in her right hand.

" **I'm** **going to put my pain into your soul!"** Star yelled as she looked at the pitiful creature before her. The small monsters eyes turned white and it immediately fainted from pure fear.

" **Pathetic..."** Star muttered as she looked at the prone form of the monster before her. She heard the sound of something coming up behind her and as she turned she saw a monster that had picked itself up off the ground and was attempting to run her through with a sword despite its bloody wounds.

Star couldn't react in time and she knew she was as good as dead until a familiar black clad teen appeared at the creatures side and delivered a vicious kick that sent the monster flying to the other side of the room where it collapsed and moved no more.

"Are you okay…Star?" Marco asked as he looked at the girl before him. When he had first see her running into battle hefting an axe he couldn't believe it was the same Star Butterfly who he had met earlier. The only thing redder then her blood stained dress was her hair and her eyes which lacked any of the innocence or kindness that they had held when they were blue.

" **Hello champion."** Star stated with small hints of sarcasm at the tip of her tongue. **"Its a** **pleasure** **to finally meet you."**

"The pleasure is mine." Marco said in a nervous tone as he watched the blood drenched girl approach him. "Its good to have finally met both...parts of you." he finished hoping to not offend the girl across from him. He was beginning to miss the sweet and innocent Star with every second he had to watch this new Star's intense gaze.

Star smiled mischievously as she held out her free hand. **"If you truly are pleased to see me then you will give me a proper greeting befitting a princess."** She stated in a mischievous tone that also had a small edge of seriousness to it.

 _You don't seriously expect him too…_

 _ **I thought you were the one who was all about proper etiquette and protocol? Its only proper when greeting a princess to offer the kiss of peace.**_

 _Its covered in blood!_

Marco had been raised by his parents to have the best manners with particular emphasis on treating women with the upmost respect. All those lessons were being tested as he was being asked to kiss the hand of a princess. Usually he wouldn't care about something such as kissing a girls hand but this particular hand had been slaying monsters a minute ago and had blood covering it.

He looked into the eyes of the girl across from him and saw they were glaring at him with intensity that made him have to look away after only a second. She was being serious and he was terrified of doing anything that would anger her. He focused on her hand and saw a small spot in the middle that was clean of any blood or viscera. Choosing to err on the side of caution like he usually did with all things he decided to go through with it.

He took off his mask and enjoyed the feeling of fresh air on his face. His looked at Star and saw her eyes take on a new light, he didn't know for sure but she seemed to be happy.

 _ **Mmmm not bad, I like the beauty mark.**_

 _He is suitably handsome as is proper of a champion._

He had seen enough movies taking place on olden times to know how to kiss the hand of a royal. He got on one knee and bowed before Star. He was about to kiss her hand but before he could he heard her laughing.

" **You were actually going to kiss a blood covered hand** **in the name of manners** **!"** She said in between laughs. **"You really are some lame white knight from another dimension!"** She stated as she chuckled at Marco's kneeling form.

Marco felt his cheeks burn behind his mask as the blood rose to his face from the embarrassment of being made fun of. He got up from his kneeling and crossed his arms. "Manners are not lame, but making fun of people and lying to them is."

" **You're** **right..."** Star responded her voice growing lower and taking on a quality Marco didn't recognize. **"In the end you did save** **P** **rincess Buttercup from certain death and by saving her you saved me. So I should show proper thanks."** She sauntered over towards Marco with a certain sway in her steps that would have been attractive if not for the fact her dress was soaked in blood.

"No thanks are necessary." Marco responded nervously as he found himself backed up against a nearby wall. "I'm happy to help both your….light and dark sides."

" **Light and dark?"** Star questioned as she stood right before him, essentially cornering him as he had nowhere else to go. **"** **That's** **such a simplistic way of looking at us** **. The other half is** **kindness** **, mercy, compassion, and all other manner of proper princess-like traits. I on the other hand…."** She dropped the axe she had been holding and pinned him against the wall with both her hands on his chest. **"I am passion, anger,** **greed, and** _ **lust.**_ **"** She said the last word with a seductive emphasis as she ran a hand down his chest.

"Well Ill be sure to keep that in kind. Sorry if my words offended you." Marco wasn't sure if he was feeling arousal or fear as he felt her blood covered hands run up and down his chest but all he knew was that he was frozen in place and didn't dare move.

" **Don't apologize, you saved me and therefore deserve to be rewarded."** She purred seductively. **"My other half promised you gold, jewels, and all manner of material things. I on the other hand will give you something that is far more valuable, something no other man could ever claim."** She leaned in close to his ear and gave it a playful nip. **"I'll give you the chance to deflower a princess."**

During the entire encounter Star had to fight back her other half's protests. Even as she flirted with Marco the back of her head burned as the other aspect of her personality fought for control.

 _Control yourself harlot! You would sully both our honor and his! You would dishonor not just ourselves but our family as well! What would our mother say if she saw this?_

 _ **Fuck you, fuck honor, and fuck our family. But most of all fuck the Queen! Our mother has no control over our fate anymore! Two years lost because of her! Two years of living in this hell and being denied everything we ever wanted. We were denied junk food, parties, boys, freedom, and any type of fun. I will not allow us to be denied anything ever again. If there's something I want I'm going to take it.**_

While Star was suffering internal conflict between her two halves Marco was trying his best to get out of the situation.

' _Okay Diaz calm down and let her down gently.'_ he thought to himself as he willed his teen hormones to die down. He had been dreaming about a girl being this close to him since he first hit puberty. However his vision of his first time involved a lovely romantic spot, preferably a hill overlooking a beautiful view of a city or forest.

"Look you're lovely and everything but this isn't the best place for an encounter of the intimate variety." Marco protested as he gestured to the bloody and half destroyed room. "Let me help you get out of here, we could go on a few dates, get to know each other, and if we have chemistry maybe we could someday be boyfriend and girlfriend."

" **Keep sweet talking me like that and I might let you** **use** **my** **backdoor.** **"** Star purred as she ran a hand down the side of his face, leaving a small trail of blood down it. **"Now get ready for-"** She was cut off by a searing pain in the back of her head.

 _Enough! I will not have you ruin everything!_

Star's eyes began to fade to blue and her hair began turning back to its original blonde. Instead of screaming in frustration she simply gave Marco a seductive smirk.

" **Ill be back some other time to take you for a test ride. Make sure my other half doesn't die before that happens."**

Marco watched as Star returned to her former self. Blue eyes met his brown and he saw them begin to shed tears.

"I'm so sorry!" Star bowed deeply as she apologized to Marco. "She is uncontrollable. I'm so sorry you had to go through all of that."

"Its no problem." Marco tried to wave away the girls apology and assure her everything was fine. "She was...passionate."

Star wiped the tears from her eyes but all she managed to do was leave trails of blood along her face. She suddenly became horrified when she realized what a bloody mess she was from her other personalities battle. "I'm covered in..." She couldn't even put into words the disgusting fluids that had soaked into her dress. "There's a bathroom and dressing room in the _animal communication through song_ classroom, Ill be right back."

Marco wanted to protest her wasting time washing up when they were trying to escape but he thought better of it. He knew that she wouldn't be able to function while covered in blood. Thankfully it was only five minutes later that Star walked out of the bathroom cleaned up and dressed in a black dress that was slightly less puffy then the blue one she was wearing.

As she walked out she again apologized. "Forgive me, my other half was simply overcome with lustful desires." She stated as her face grew as red as a tomato. "I'm sorry if it made you uncomfortable. A princess should never act in such a way unless she is with her husband."

"Don't worry about it." Marco returned trying to make the situation less awkward. "I'm pretty sure if anyone's lustful sides took over control of our body they would do the same thing."

"I just don't want you to think we are that type of girl." Star said as coughed awkwardly into her hand. "I intend to wait until I have met a young boy of noble blood before I even consider such things. So please don't take any offer my other half might make."

"Don't worry I would never take up an offer from her without your additional consent. Consent is very important in the dimension I'm from."

"I didn't mean to imply that you would take advantage!" Star protested immediately, cursing her use of words. "Its just that I must preserve my honor for marriage. I take it very seriously since it could mean humiliation for my family if I ever sullied my honor with a commoner from another dimension. I would be disgraced if my people found out."

Marco frowned at those words. While he had no intention to pursue anything romantic with the princess next to him it did bother him that the very idea of a relationship was off the table. The idea that he was unworthy because of what social status he was born to was annoying. He knew Star had no ill will when he said those things so he tried not to take it personally.

' _Its probably just because I'm from Earth where most places on the planet have gotten rid of the idea of royalty. Shes from an entirely different dimension and has an entirely different culture.'_ He thought as he reassured himself of his own worth. _'_ _Still...its not like Mario ever had to put up with this. Hell the dude was a plumber but still managed to_ _have a chance with a princess..._ _that fat mustached bastard has some serious game._ _'_

"Well now that you're cleaned up lets get going." Marco said as he dusted himself off and wished he could have a change of clothes. He held up his mask and debated whether he should put it back on. The material was cracked from his earlier fight and it would probably shatter if it took another hit. He decided against putting back on and simply stuffed it into his shirt before moving on.

"Of course champion. We still need to find my wand and spell book."

* * *

Moon Butterfly sat in her study as she read over correspondences from parts of her kingdoms and from kingdoms from other dimensions. While most people would find this sort of paperwork annoying and stressful Moon enjoyed it. It was one of the few times she could sit in a comfy chair and let her hair down literally and figuratively.

She was wearing a simple but beautiful blue silk nightdress and her hair which was usually done up was now cascading loosely down around her as she read through numerous letters. Her husband River was sitting in his favorite chair while lounging around in a loose set of robes. It was one of the few times the two of them could spend some time together outside of court and they enjoyed every second of it.

"Anything interesting going on dear?" River asked as he looked over at his wife as she worked on her paperwork.

"We've been invited toa celebration hosted by the Queen of Neudonia in the Astapor Dimension. She is having a grand tournament in honor of her dimensions greatest champions." Moon said as she looked at the invitation. "There will be feasting, melees, jousting, and a grand ball. All this in the name of her champions a group by the name of Doraleous and Associates….strange name."

"We should definitely go!" River shouted in glee. "Sounds like a jolly good time indeed."

"You hate social events."

"But I love tournaments and melee combat. Ill have to have my armor and weapons polished to get ready." River said as he thought about how wonderful a good tournament would be. "It also helps with my throne posture."

"What makes you think I will allow you to take part in those barbaric melees?" Moon asked as she look at her husbands celebrating form. "As a visiting King and Queen we will be expected to spectate not participate."

"Oh Come on Moon. You cant be serious!"

"Your getting too old for these silly games River." She responded as she relaxed and continued looking through her mail. She was so engrossed in it she didn't notice Rivers sneaking up on her until she felt his strong hands on her shoulders as he pulled her in for a kiss.

She leaned into the kiss and enjoyed it thoroughly. As he kissed her neck she felt his hands reach behind her and he began stroking her wings which were currently shrunken down to allow her free movement. Under his ministrations they opened up and grew to their full size. Smiling Moon allowed her two other sets of arms to come out and her skin turned a dark blue as she took on the form that was reserved for either battle or more intimate moments.

Before she could go any further River pulled away and coughed into his hand. "Well that's enough for tonight. I am old man after all. I should probably have a drink of water and head off to bed early. Too old for tournaments and other such activities after all."

Moons glowing eyes watched as her husband and king retreated towards the bed in an overly dramatic impersonation of an old man struggling to walk. She hated it when he got stubborn, she knew she should walk away and not play his game but she had been so ready for it. She crossed her six arms over her chest and let out a frustrated huff.

"Fine you can go!" She declared which made River stop in his tracks and give his wife an overjoyed smile. "But if you wish to participate you need to prove that you still have the strength and vitality necessary to fight in the tournaments. Ill be testing you _very_ thoroughly. Are you up for it?"

"I'm always up for a challenge. So lets-"

He was cut off by Moon flying at him and throwing him on the bed and pinning his limbs down. Her hands excreted a blue organic cement that imprisoned his hands to the headboard and his feet to the bottom of the bed.

"First test is stamina." Moon purred as she gazed at her husband. "Lets see how long you can last with me-" Moon was cut off by the sound of tapping on the window to the royal bedroom. She immediately jumped off of her husband and used her magic to summon a set of robes to cover herself.

The Royal quarters was located on the very top of the palace which was beyond the reach of anyone. It also had magical wards that protected it from any flying intruders. Only messengers special messengers could pass the wards.

"Are you seriously going to answer that now of all times?!" River asked in a rather frustrated voice as he struggled against his bonds. "We were in the middle of something."

"Only the most vital messages are delivered directly to this room River." Moon stated as she walked over to the window where she saw a magical moth tapping on it with its little hands. "Just sit there like a good boy, if you complain I'll simplely make you wait longer."

She opened up the letter and read it.

 _My Queen you must come to Saint Olga's Immediately!_

 _They've been torturing Star in order to turn her into an ideal princess._

 _All the letters you've received from Star over the years are forgeries. This is not a joke you must come here and save her. I've been imprisoned and cannot protect her, I also sense something going on and believe the school to be under attack._

 _Please come immediately with the army._

 _-Glossaryck._

"Impossible." Moon muttered as she read the letter over several times. "All the letters from Star were...fake?" She had received a letter from her daughter every month since she had left. She knew her daughters handwriting. But she also knew that Glossaryck was one of the few people who could get a letter past the security wards and the others who had that privilege would never attempt to falsify a letter like this.

Moon waved her hand and the organic cement around her husbands hands melted away instantly. River looked up and saw the look of absolute horror on his wife's face. "Whats wrong? What did the letter say?"

"Assemble the army, we are getting our daughter back."

* * *

"Here it is!" Star declared happily as she gestured to the door in front of her and Marco. "The contraband room which also doubles as an armory. This where my wand is stored."

"There are no guards around here."Marco muttered as he peered around the halls. "That's strange."

Star shrugged. 'They are probably at their battle stations. Lets get suited up and escape." Star tried to open the door but found it was locked. "Well...I didn't think of that."

"Do you have a hair pin?" Marco asked as he looked at the old fashioned iron lock on the door.

"Of course, a lady must always be prepared to tidy up herself in case of a hair emergency." Star stated as she reached into a hidden fold of her dress and pulled a small bobby pin from it and handed it over to Marco.

Marco accepted the pin and went to work on the lock the way he had seen in numerous movies. "This pin will be the key to our freedom. Thanks for the pin Star..." Marco trailed off when he realized something . "Wait so if your half of Star Butterfly and the other one is the other more passionate half...what do I call you?"

"Whatever do you mean my champion?" She asked as she cocked her head curiously.

"Well...whats your name?"

"Star Butterfly."

"What does your other self call herself?"

"Star Butterfly."

"That's my point." Marco continued as he worked on the lock with the pin. "Wont it get confusing if you both to go by the same name?"

"We are two sides of the same coin." She explained. "To call ourselves anything other then Star Butterfly would be...wrong."

"Fair enough." Marco muttered as he continued his work. "So how is the other Star doing? I cant imagine its nice being the passenger rather then the driver of the body."

"She's doing well...she is ummmm"

 _ **Pitiful people prepare, plead plentifully plentiful platitude phenomenal patriot pounds, poundingly perverse puppets**_ _ **pulping, pleasantly, putrid pasties.**_

"Practicing her vocabulary...yeah...that's totally what shes doing right now."

Any further conversation on the topic was cut off after the two of them heard a satisfying click from the door as it unlocked under Marco's skilled hands. Star charged in first and her eyes went wide at a familiar sight in front of her.

"Glossaryck!" Star called out as she ran at the tiny blue man. Glossaryck gave her a small wave but was caught off guard when he felt himself being picked up and crushed in a hug.

"Star I'm really tiny so please be gentle!" he called out as he managed to push himself away from her. "Its good to see you but…oh no." He muttered as he gazed into the girls bright blue eyes. He floated up to her and looked into her eyes and let out a sad sigh. "So...you've been cleaved."

"You noticed that quickly..." Star muttered as she ran a hand down the side of her right face.

"Don't worry Star." Glossaryck soothed. "Its fixable if we're lucky, all we need to do is get you out of here. This place has some dimensional scissors and the crystal that keeps rifts from opening has been destroyed. We can get out of here right now."

"Perfect!" Star cheered. "Did you hear that my champion? We can leave and return home!"

"Awesome." Marco said as he walked up to Glossaryck. "So this guy is like your mentor or something?"

"And who are you?" Glossaryck ashed as his eyes glowed as he peered at the boy. "Oh….I see...Old magic."

"What do you mean old magic?" Marco asked as the strange little blue man floated all round him, inspecting him like he was some sort of specimen in a lab.

Star gestured towards Marco with exaggerated hand gestures. "He is my champion. I called out for help and the universe sent him to aid me! He saved my life and has protected me, once we get back to Mewni I wish to knight him."

"Again that's not necessary..."

Glossaryck watched the two of them talking, or rather he watched the numerous additional possibilities that the new arrival had added to possible futures. The information was difficult to discern since he couldn't see past certain choices but all he could tell for certain is that old magic had summoned the boy and all futures where he didn't stick around to protect Star Butterfly ended badly.

"Well we can get the two of you out of here right now if you want." Glossaryck stated as he used his magic to summon a pair of dimensional scissors off the wall. "Although it is sad that you couldn't have saved the other girls who are imprisoned here..."

"The others!" Star exclaimed as she remembered all the other royal girls who were here. "I've been so obsessed with escaping and saving myself that I completely forgot about the other girls who are here!"

"Couldn't we escape and come back for them later?" Marco asked as he thought about saving a whole bunch of princess's "I mean your family must have an army or maybe there's some kind of police force that could fix all this?"

"There isn't time!" Star stated as she began running around the contraband room grabbing everything they needed. "The monsters are attacking so every second counts. We cant let them get hurt. Where is my wand?" She asked as she tore through the room in a frenzied panic.

"Here you go" Glossaryck used his magic to hover the wand in front of Star.

Star gazed at the wand and It was exactly the same as she remembered with its light purple color, white wings, and a gold star in the center. She grabbed it and it glowed with a blinding light and she felt it change.

Th wand transformed until it looked similar to the wand that Star's mother used. The handle was pure gold with blue butterfly designs on it the tip of the wand was a large blue sapphire jewel in the shape of a star. "Its perfect..." She said in joy, but that joy quickly turned to sadness. _"It changed because I'm not...her..."_ She thought sadly.

"As for you..." Glossaryck started as he looked at Marco. He summoned a long sword and gave it to Marco who accepted it happily. He also summoned a holster for the sword that was designed to be on the back of a person rather then their side.

"Cool!" Marco strapped the holster to his back and placed his new acquisition in it. "So what now? Do I get a cool suit of armor like some awesome knight?"

"No if I did that you'll just drown later."

"What?"

"I'm just saying if you wear armor you'll drown later tonight. Take this instead." He summoned a strange metal crossbow with a wood stock. "This is a magic repeating crossbow that the elite guards of this school use. It cocks itself and all you need to do is point, pull the trigger, and keep it loaded with these bolt cartridges." He threw several several metal cartridges at the boy. "Its so easy to use a child could use it."

Marco held the thing and was amazed at how light it was. "I guess this works…"

"Anything else and you'll get yourself killed." Glossaryck stated as he looked at the two. He summoned forth Stars spell book and with a few incantations it shrunk down to the size of a normal book and it grew lighter in weight. "There now you can travel easily with it."

"You mean it could do that this whole time?!" Star yelled in surprise as she picked up the book as easily as one would pick up an average textbook. She tucked it safely into a fold of the dress she was wearing.

"Well the prints harder to read when its small and when its big and heavy its much harder for enemies to steal it." He pointed out. "Its going to take both of you in order to get through this so you better get ready for battle."

"Aren't you coming along?" Star asked as she looked at her mentor with sad eyes.

"No...I have other things I must do." He handed Star a pair of red dimensional scissors. "Ill meet up with you before you leave. Trust me."

Very little else was said as Glossaryck pushed the two of them out of the contraband room with his magic. "Now hurry up and go! Negative possibilities are multiplying as you stand around here not saving people."

Marco and Star were left in the hallway as Glossaryck flew off to do whatever it was he was going to do.

"So...where are the girls being held?" Marco asked as he peered down the twisting halls of the school. He waited a bit for a response but got none from his companion. 'Star? You there?' he turned and saw Star standing still, her facial expressions changing quickly from annoyance, shock, and anger.

 _You need to help us save the other girls. Many of them were nice to us over the last two years we owe them a great deal._

 _ **Not unless you give me what I want. If I help you and the boy-toy save those girls then I want you to let me have control so that I can get my revenge on Heinous.**_

 _You would risk not just our life but the life of others all for the sake of petty vengeance?!_

 _ **ITS NOT PETTY! I will never find peace until that bitch is dead. I will have the final word in my war with her. She will die a thousand deaths but only after I've tortured her body and her soul.**_

 _You would risk everything...our chance at freedom._

 _ **We will never be free so long as she lives. Unless you promise me my vengeance...I will not aid you.**_

 _So be it. But you must promise to not get Marco killed. I will not have our champion fall because of your blood-lust._

 _ **Don't worry, Id never let anything happen to Marco. I have plans for him...so many plans…**_

 _Ugh I don't want to know._

Marco was about to check to see if Star was okay when he saw her change once more into her darker half. He looked at the red haired teenager across from him and red met black as their gazes met. Star broke her gaze with Marco's when she felt the wand clutched in her hands change. It changed back to a more familiar shape as it looked like how her wand had looked the first time she got it. But the shape was the only thing that was the same. It was colored pitch black and at the top of it was a large orb with a blood red eye peering out from it. It also had two angelic wings sprouting from its sides but they were pitch black.

" **Mmmm its always** **good** **to see you again."** Star purred as she looked at Marco. **"You ready to slaughter every monster and guard in this school and** **maybe** **save a princess or two along the way?"**

Marco gulped nervously. "I don't want to kill anyone but I'm ready to do what has to be done to save those girls." he stated as he unfolded the crossbow and held it in front of him.

" **Spoken like a true hero."** Star teased in a sarcastic tone as she walked up right next to him. **"Lets get going** **handsome.** **I have a meeting with the** **H** **eadmistress** **right after we save the other girls** **."**

As they were about to leave the sounds of footsteps rang loudly down the hall behind them. They turned and saw numerous monsters charging down the hall. Marco raised his crossbow and was about to open fire on the enemies but Star grabbed the front of the crossbow and forced him to lower it.

" **Put that away for now, let me practice some of my magic."** She said as she glared at the monsters charging at her. As they drew closer she raised her wand, the eye in its center glowed a deep red.

" **Devouring Swarm!"**

A horde of large Rats spewed forth from the wand, each rat the size of a small dog and all with glowing red eyes. The rodents descended upon the monsters and swarmed over them, biting and clawing at flesh and soon the halls were filled with pained screams.

 _They didn't deserve to suffer like that..._

 _ **Neither did we when this place shattered our mind. But we seldom get what we deserve.**_

"That was...impressive." Marco said as he tried to block out the sounds of pained screams as the monsters were being literally eaten alive by a swarm of rats. He didn't dare look in the direction of the screams and instead decided to walk in the opposite direction of them.

Star fell in next to her companion and gave Marco a cruel smile. **"** **Y** **ou haven't seen anything yet."** She held up her wand in front of her.

" **Blood Saber."**

Crackling red magical energy sprung forth from the top of the wand and took the shape of a blade. She gave the wand-turned-sword a few experimental swing and swung it at a nearby wall and was pleased when the energy melted through the stone like it was made of butter.

 **"I'm going to use this to cut our way through our enemies."** She stated as she deactivated the blade, satisfied that her spell worked.

Marco tried his best to ignore the look of pure malicious glee that decorated Stars face. _'She is a slave to her passions the same way her other half is a slave to rules.'_ As much as the girl next to him terrified him he wouldn't leave her side. _'She is broken...and I have to help fix her.'_

Star noticed Marco looking at her and felt a bit uncomfortable with his calm gaze. She was used to seeing terror, nervousness, and lust in the boys gaze. But the look he was giving her was different. It made her feel weird inside and she felt blood rushing to her face.

Wanting to get rid of the feeling she raised her right hand and smacked her companion on the butt turning his gaze from being calm and thoughtful to a mixture of embarrassment and anger.

" **Lets get that fine ass of yours moving."**

"As you command my princess." Marco muttered angrily as he rubbed his sore behind. "Always rushing into situation that will end in violence."

Star chuckled. " **I welcome violence."** She stated happily. **"I will not sit idly like others** **who** **wait to become prey. I will take the fight directly to my enemies and prey upon them!"**

Hearing that made Marco realize his new position in life. Int he span of a few hours he went from hosting a party to fighting enemies alongside a broken princess. _'_ _I'm_ _going to need therapy before this is all over...'_ He thought to himself as he marched down the schools halls with his unhinged companion.

"So where do I fit in in this hunter prey relationship you have with your enemies?" Marco asked as he looked into her blood red eyes. "Am I the bait?"

" **You are attractive bait..."** Star teased as she looked him up and down. **"** **B** **ut Id rather you watch my back and make sure no sneaky cunts are going to** **try** **and sneak up** **on** **m** **e.** **S** **o your going to watch my ass and make sure they don't get the chance** **to back stab me** **."**

"So I'm going to be covering your ass through this entire thing?"

Star gave him a toothy smile. **"Yup!"** She stated cheerfully. **"Do a good enough job of covering my ass and I might let you fuck it when this is all over."** Star loved the way she could embarrass the boy next to her so easily and as she watched his embarrassed reaction she felt complete satisfaction.

 _You are making us look like a shameless whore!_

Marco's face turned red as he took a few steps away from the girl as he tried to hide how embarrassing and awkward she was making the situation. "Thanks but no thanks, I would never do such a thing with someone I barely know. Especially when it would amount to rape since half of you cant consent."

" **We'll see if you can stick by those morals and codes you follow when this is all over."**

 _He is a man of honor and will not fall for your wiles foul temptress._

Star ignored her other half and grabbed Marco's hand and dragged him down the halls as fast as they could run.

" **Lets get going champion, I have an appointment with the Headmistress that's long overdue."**

* * *

 **Authors note**

16,392 words...woof this is taking forever!

Okay...first off thank you for the wonderful reviews. Over a hundred people are following this story. I guess over a hundred people enjoy watching me lose my mind as I write this crazy story. I never expected half this much attention, especially after only a few chapters! The pressure is on now...

Dark Star, she might seem crazy in this chapter and perhaps even a bit one-sided but I intend to flesh out her character, although I would argue any person who become the embodiment of their passions would turn out like Dark Star.

Fun fact-Dark Star is heavily inspired by Krieg from Borderlands 2. I actually got the original idea of having a dark-side to Star when re-watching the youtube video 'A Meat Bicycle built for 2' In earlier drafts of the story Star was completely dark with only a weak bit of her sanity begging her to act normal. But I ditched that. If Dark Stars dialogue seems over-the-top its because its kind of meant to be. With no self control and endless passion she rants her feelings and throws her rage out at the world. Although if you really read into the dialogue I wrote its actually more sad then anything else.

As I wrote this I realized that Marco's character was easy to place in strange situations. Mainly because his canon counterpart is very accepting of things like magical craziness and he plays the straight man to Star's insanity. He just goes with the flow while trying to stay alive.

A reader pointed out how bad the Spanish was. I used google translate since I didn't have anything else. Google translate is about as useful as a drunken man with dyslexia reading a pocket dictionary.

I would like to thank all of my reviewers.

Thank you Brewer235,NoxDal,DpSS,acw28,nightmater000,Azuretemplar3535,Cross177, , coldblue,mrenteria99,icebreaker182,not-a-cop,StraferElite,XxCaptainPirateKingxX,0akarigan0,Doctor013,domger,Grey,EroJimmy,Anthrodragon,OMAC001,SolidJJ,Or-lado626,animefan29,the17thcolossus,allietheepic7,Mathew5641,RPGPersona,Momijifan Low-ki, Sir Starcoshipper,korsunkiye,The Keeper of Worlds, Erazor djinn,Zer0the0mega108,Zero H Gundam,Neko cleaer, gami666,Herohearth.


	4. Crossroads of Destiny

**Disclaimer- I do not own Star vs The Forces of Evil**

* * *

After trudging through the halls of Saint Olga's Star led Marco to where the schools security had the Princesses imprisoned. It was on the top floor in the Golden wing of the school which held a security bunker for the girls to be secured in case the school should ever come under attack. The fact that beyond the security bunker was the Headmistress office was a bonus in Star's opinion.

The only problem was that there was only one long corridor that led to the Golden Wing of the school and at the end of that corridor was a security blockade which was fortified by the schools defenders. The Schools security guards were prepared to make their last stand in defense of their most valuable Royal assets and it showed. The entire hallway leading up to them was a kill-zone.

" **I say we charge in and slaughter them all."** Star muttered as she gazed down the hallway where the guards who were in charge of protecting the Princess's were.

 _Genius plan, what do you suggest we do after the guards literally shoot us down as you charge in? Maybe your arrow ridden corpse might poke a few of them if you manage to throw yourself at them as you bleed out._

 _ **Maybe you can have control and you can paralyze the arrows mid-flight with your nagging.**_

 _Well maybe you could put on a whorish strip tease to distract them. It seems like all you've done since you've been in control of our body is kill things and whore around._

 _ **Not a bad idea. It'll give me some practice for when I get your precious white knight alone.**_

 _You will not touch him..._

 _ **I intend to do far more then just touch him. You can have him after I'm done with him.**_

Marco who was unaware of the argument in Star's head was looking down the hall with a contemplative look. He didn't like the look of the defenses, the glowing masks of the guards and the numerous metal fortifications made it look like it was impenetrable.

"If only we could sneak in..." Marco muttered as he gazed at the blockade. "You could probably sneak in since you look the part of a princess...maybe that could work. You sneak in as your proper princess-like self and then change when your behind enemy lines. You'll catch them completely off guard. "

Star stopped arguing with herself and regarded the boy across from her. **"Not a bad idea, but what will you be doing while I'm risking my life?"**

Marco shrugged. "I don't know, its not like I can sneak in with you. The only two types of people they wont shoot down is a princess or another guard. I'm not buff enough to be a guard and I'm not exactly a princess."

A look of glee appeared on Stars face and one could even detect a slight blush as she gazed at the boy across from her.

Marco saw the look on her face and didn't like it one bit. "Ummm are you okay?" he asked as he noticed her giving him a devious smile. "I don't like that look."

 _I see what your thinking...and for the first time ever I approve!_

 _ **You want to take over? I think you'll be better at this then me.**_

 _Sounds good._

Marco watched with relief as Star transformed and he was looking at her proper Light side. Any relief he felt was instantly squashed when he saw the Light Star giving him the same devious look.

"Don't worry Marco, with my magic I can give you a perfect disguise." She stated as her golden wand lit up with magic.

"Radiant Shadow Transform!"

The magic spewed forth from her wand and encompassed Marco in brilliant white light. The boy could only watch as the magic glided over his skin. It was over in a second but the results were quite visible. Marco was no longer dressed as Zorro but was instead wearing a poofy pink princess dress, his hair had been magically extended and now ended in a large ponytail, and his face was done up with makeup and he had long artificial eyelashes.

"What have you done to me you mad woman?!" Marco yelled out as he looked down at his new form. He reached down under his dress to his crotch area and felt around and let out a sigh of relief. "At least everything is where its supposed to be."

"Its just a visual change until we can sneak past the guards." Star soothed in an attempt to get the boy to calm down.

"You couldn't have used your magic to change me into one of the guards?"

"I don't know...pink is definitely your color."

 _ **I like him like this, it gives me so many ideas for role-playing. Ask him what his opinion on pegging is to see if hes willing to be flexible.**_

 _No! That's disgusting!_

 _ **What? I'm just curious if hes okay with catching instead of pitching, he seems like the submissive type...**_

 _I'm not continuing this disturbing conversation with you._

 _ **The fact we're even having it shows that you would enjoy it as well. We are two sides of the same coin which means you're just as into the idea as I am. You are simply in denial about it.**_

Star ignored her darker half and looked at Marco, her face slightly flustered. "Alright Marco, are you ready for this?"

Marco was hiding his crossbow and sword underneath the large dress and once they were securely strapped to his legs he nodded. "Lets do this." He muttered sadly. "Cant believe I have to wear a dress."

* * *

Toffee stood before the Schools main gate with his most elite monsters. The initial waves of weak monsters had done their job of scouting out the school and identifying the areas where the schools remaining guardsmen were held up. Several groups had been completely wiped out but they were acceptable casualties in the grand scheme of things. Even now more and more monsters were arriving through portals.

Victory was assured.

Before he could order his troops to take the school the sound of war-horns echoed in the air. Toffee had to resist letting out a sigh of frustration at the familiar sound.

One of his battle commanders came running up to him. "Immortal One...Its the Mewman Queen and her army." He stated in a voice full of fear. "They have arrived and are approaching from the south."

"We always knew this was a risky venture." Toffee replied as he looked at his battle commanders his voice not showing a single ounce of fear or surprise. "Luckily we have planned for this possibility, although it would have been nice to avoid it all together."

"Are we seriously going to use them?" One of his commanders asked, fear evident in the monsters voice.

Toffee nodded. "They are the only ones strong enough to hold back the army and let us complete our mission." He responded as he turned to Oculus. "You know what to do. Summon your two Voidborn friends onto the battlefield along with all war beasts we have."

" **As you wish..."** The creature muttered as it floated towards the main gate of the school. The monsters were forming ranks into battle lines in front of the school in preparation for the enemies arrival.

Oculus raised one of its tentacles and channeled magical energy into it and lunged it in an arc which cut open a large portal in the air in front of the monster ranks. From the portal its fellow Voidborn came through.

" **Who will be eaten first?!"** A voice called out as a large figure emerged from the portal. It was a massive beast with purple and red flesh standing on two clawed legs, it had two massive arms attached to a slim but muscled body. Each arm was tipped with two blood red pincers much like a giant crab. The best also had a secondary set or arms above its normal ones but these were merely tipped with a sharp scorpion like barb meant for impaling enemies. Its face was cruel and had a massive jaw with two centipede like mandibles on either side of its head. It also stood far above all other monsters due to its massive size.

The next creature to walk out of the massive portal was a hulking behemoth of muscle. It stood on two sump like legs, had two massive arms with clawed hands and its main body was massive. Its enormous head had a large maw with razor sharp teeth but what stood out most was the numerous crystals glowing on its grey skin. **"Consume all magic."** It declared as it gazed around its new environment.

Toffee looked upon the new arrivals with a fair bit of caution but also pride. "The Void Reaver and the Manaspawn. Our finest front-line war beasts." He stated with pride as he gazed upon their forms. The monsters around him were terrified of the creatures and with good reason. Their origins were almost as amazing as their own power.

A long time ago a Mewman Queen by the name of Eclipsa had taken a monster for a lover and promptly killed her own husband, declaring that her monster lover was the new King of Mewni. Rebellion began at that declaration and Eclipsa's own children turned on her.

Eclipsa used her magic to summon forth creates from a Void dimension of pure darkness. Despite its name the Void was anything but empty, it held magic and creatures of pure nightmare. It was a dimension where terrible beasts roamed, slaughtering each other and consuming each other to evolve themselves and gain more power. She used them to help fortify her power but in the end her own children managed to defeat her and forced her to flee Mewni. With her defeat the remaining Voidborn monsters were either destroyed or fled into the wilds.

Looking upon the creatures now he felt a great deal of pride at being able to command such creatures and it felt like poetic justice that they be used to hold back Moon and her army.

Several other war beasts were also summoned, hydras from the dark forests, swamp mammoths with large tusks and hardened skin, and large salamanders whose scales were on fire were among the creatures that joined the Void creatures. All these war beasts were risky to bring into battle and he was hesitant to use them but he would need them if he wanted his forces to stand a chance against Mewni's army.

"We have come as promised Immortal One." A voice stated and Toffee turned to see his best fighters standing alongside him. They were clad in pitch black plate armor that encased their bodies. They appeared to be Mewman knights at first glance but their dark armor with was decorated with numerous skull designs and spikes showed they were not chivalrous knights like those found in fairy tales.

Despite looking like Mewman's in their body shape it was obvious they were not Mewman since the few places where their skin was exposed showed pale flesh, paler then that of any Mewman.

The leader of the group was tall and encased in black armor like his fellows. The armor while beautifully decorated also had numerous spikes on the gauntlets and shoulders. However the most distinguishing feature was his helm, the face plate was forged to look like a skull with intricate detail, the sides were decorated in runes, but the most distinguishing feature was a ring of spikes around the top of the hem that made it look like he was wearing a crown.

"I have brought my people to aid you Immortal One." The figure stated as he hefted at long sword in his right hand and a staff in his left. The staff was black metal but was tipped with a crystal that looked like it was made of ice.

The crystal chilled the air around the area and Toffee had to resist the urge to shiver as he greeted the new arrival. "Your strength will be needed inside, no doubt they have the best defenses around Star Butterfly. You will be my vanguard and will take care of any enemies we encounter as I capture the princess."

The tall armored individual took several threatening steps towards Toffee who stood his ground and stared at the persons face plate. "We will do our part but we are not cannon fodder. We are aiding you because you claim you can give our people the lands the Mewman's stole from us."

"If I wanted to use you as cannon fodder I would have sent you out into the field to face the Mewni army." Toffee pointed out, annoyed at the other mans accusations. "As is you will be joining me in capturing Star Butterfly, a task worthy of you and your peoples strength."

"Yes...capturing a teenage Princess. How will that aid us in retaking Mewni?" The Armored figure asked. "Even if we ransom her and her wand to regain our lands the Mewman's will simply retake them."

"A bit late to be raising these concerns isn't it?" Toffee asked condescendingly. "I offered you your lands back in exchange for your support and you agreed. Trust that my plan will work and you will get what you want. Otherwise you can walk away and hide in whatever hole it is you live in."

"Watch your tongue Lizard, you might have the rest of monster-kind fooled but we know that while you might be powerful you are far from Immortal." His gaze fell onto Toffees hand and its missing digit. "We will follow your orders but if you don't make good on your promise you will regret it you up-jumped reptile."

Toffee had to resist rolling his eyes. _'So dramatic.'_ He thought to himself. "Rest assured I will fulfill my end of the bargain. Now if your done pounding your chest and throwing around pointless insults we have a battle to win." He cleared his throat and turned to address his forces. "While our main forces take on the Mewni army we will lead the charge into the school. Already our elite units have begun the assault on the main enemy choke points within the schools corridors. We will bypass the fighting and focus only on finding Star Butterfly. Once she is secured our job here will be done."

* * *

Star and Marco walked up to the guards fortified position nervously. When they had walked into sight of the enemy they were worried about being shot but thankfully their disguises worked and a group of guards abandoned their posts and ran up to the two of them.

An elite guardsman ran up to Marco and Star with several robotic guards flanking him.

"Princess Star Butterfly." The guard observed as his masks glowing red eyes focused on the Princess from Mewni. "I'm glad you found your way here. When we lost contact with your escort we feared the worst. The Headmistress will be pleased that you made it here."

"I'm so sorry to have made you worry." Star answered as she gave the guard a proper curtsy. "We ran into monsters on the way to my quarters, my escorts fell fighting them off. I had to sneak here to avoid being seen."

The guard nodded at the girls explanation but his eyes turned to Marco. "And who is this? All the other Princesses are accounted for in the safe room."

Marco and Star grew nervous and thought they were going to be caught but thankfully Star was a quick thinker. "This is Princess Marcia of the Earth Dimension." Star put forth quickly hoping the guard would buy her lies. "She is a new arrival and got caught up in all the madness before she could be processed. I ran into her in the classroom wing."

The guard accepted that answer since the girl in front of him was clearly a princess and with all the chaos of the last day it made sense that some paperwork would fall through the cracks. "We'll get it sorted out later, for now lets get you two secured." he ordered as he led the two of them down the hall and behind the fortifications.

Marco looked at the fortifications and was glad they could sneak past them. Metal barriers that had spikes to prevent people from jumping over them yet offered guards the ability to fire upon enemies that came down the hall. A dozen men could hold off numerous scores of enemy's with such an advantageous position. There were about twenty guards but with this type of fortification they could hold off any number of attackers. As Marco and Star were led past the gate and behind the enemy Star stopped suddenly and the guard that was escorting them turned to see why the Princess had stopped.

"Why have you stopped Princess Butterfly?" The guard asked as he gazed at the girl. She was staring at the ground with her hair covering her eyes. "We need to get you secured with the others before this place comes under attack."

"I need something from you first before I can proceed..." Star answered as she stared at the floor.

The guard was losing his patience, he hated having to deal with prissy girls all day and their unreasonable demands. "What is it that you need?" he asked wanting to get her into the bunker quickly and without conflict.

" **Your life."** Star answered as she looked at him, her eyes now red. Before anyone could react she pulled her wand out from a fold of her dress and a crimson beam of magical energy sprung to life and formed a long blade.

" **Blood Saber!"** She called out as she slashed at the guard before he could react, cutting the man in half. There was no blood or guts since he pure heat from the magical blade cauterized everything it touched.

Marco reached beneath his dress and pulled the crossbow from its folds and the weapon quickly folded out and became battle-ready. Glossaryck was true to his word and the weapon was so easy to use that a child could fire it. It had buttons for what type of bolt to fire, regular, electrified, or explosive and using magic the crossbow would imbue the arrow with the property you selected. The fact that it was reload with cartridges and could be fired as quickly as one could pull the trigger was an added bonus.

Marco had never fired a crossbow before but his uncle Jorge had shown him how to fire guns when the Diaz family had visited the man at his Texas ranch. The principal was the same and the only difference was that the crossbow didn't have recoil and it shot magical bolts instead of bullets.

Marco aimed at the guards on top of the fortification since they were out of Star's reach. He opened fire and was pleased when a guard fell for each time he pulled the trigger. He had the crossbow set to electrify since most of the guards were mechanical and the electricity seemed to fry their circuitry.

The guards for the most part were slow to react. The living guardsmen who were mercenaries of flesh and blood recovered their wits quickly and ran towards Star who was the most obvious threat. The mechanical guards reacted but with nonlethal force since they weren't programmed to use deadly force when capturing princesses due to how valuable each one was to the school.

Star took on the brunt of the attack and was enjoying every second of it.

" **You will all drown in an ocean of my hatred!"** She screamed as she cut one of the guards in half. **"** **I am the beginning and the end, the monster under your bed, the bringer of death, the Mistress of Pain! I will moisturize my pores with your blood!"**

She leaped from enemy to enemy and with each strike she cleaved another guard in two. After bisecting another guard she turned and saw three guards all with their crossbows trained on her. Before she could summon forth any magic for a spell a bolt struck one of the guards and he promptly exploded and sent the guards standing near him flying into nearby walls. She looked over and saw Marco firing his crossbow at every enemy that moved, he would have looked downright incredible if he wasn't doing it while wearing a giant pink dress.

 _Pink really is his color._

 _ **I think he would look better without any clothes at all.**_

Star gave him a curt nod of thanks to Marco which he returned before she went back to slaying her enemies. Several robotic guardsman ran up to her and attempted to hit her with stun batons but her magical energy blade cut through the batons like they were nothing.

" **Our** **mind is a song of ice and fire!"** She declared as she danced around in a whirlwind of red death. **"** **Your** **deaths** **calm the fires and melts the ice!"**

Marco looked around and saw only a few guards left. He slammed a new clip of bolts into the crossbow and fired on another robotic guardsman. Only half remained and most of them were engaged in combat with Star. As Marco watched as Star cleaved her way through their ranks he briefly wondered if she even needed his help.

He was shaken from his thoughts by two robotic guards that were attempting to flank Star and surprise her from behind while she was cleaving her way through her enemies. Marco raised his weapon and put a shock bolt into each of them in quick succession. _'I cant fight like her but I can protect her.'_ He thought as he watched Star finish off the last of the guards.

Silence reigned in the hall after the battle concluded. The floor was littered with broken bodies of numerous robots and a few of living flesh. Marco was sure he would have been sick except for the fact that Star's magical energy blade cauterized everything it touched which meant the floors were thankfully free of any blood.

" **You did a good job covering my ass."** Star stated as she gazed at Marco. " **We fight pretty well together. Makes me wonder what else we could do well together..."**

"If your trying to make me flustered then you are going to have to do better then that." Marco responded, while he could deal with her crass flirting he didn't feel like dealing with it after fighting for his life. "I've heard worse then that from Janna."

" **Oh Ill do far bett-wait who the fuck is Janna?"** Star asked as she narrowed her eyes at Marco's form.

Marco was dusting himself off and didn't notice Star glaring at him. "Shes one of my best friends from earth." He answered honestly. "You ready to get going and save those princesses?"

Star didn't know why but that explanation made her feel strange even as her rage dissipated. Shaking those feelings from her head she looked over at the large metal door which led to the bunker where the Princesses were kept during times of crisis.

"But before we do anything could you please change me back?" Marco asked as he gestured to the dress he was wearing. "While I must admit its is kind of comfortable its really hard to fight in this thing."

" **I don't know, I kind of like you in a dress."**

"Just do it, we don't have time for this."

" **Fine."** Star replied with obvious disappointment in her voice. **"But only if you promise to wear it later..."** She demanded while giving him a lustful smile.

Marco wanted to argue with her but he was in no mood for a fight. "Fine whatever just give me back my old outfit."

" **Radiant Shadow** **T** **ransform!"** Star declared as her magic transformed the dress back into Marco's Zorro costume.

"Finally..." He muttered as he felt his arms and legs regain their freedom of movement.

Star walked over the body of the first guard she had killed and grabbed a key-ring from him and tossed it over to Marco.

" **Here."** She tossed him the pair of dimensional scissors. **"Go on and save the girls, I have an appointment with the** **H** **eadmistress."** Star stated as she strode down the hall that she knew would lead to the school leaders private office.

"You aren't going to help me?" Marco asked as he watched her retreating form.

" **I got my own business to take care of. A champion like you should have no problem rescuing distressing damsels."** She stated as she continued walking. **"Have fun and remember that I get first dibs on you once this is all over."**

Marco sent her retreating form an annoyed look. "We shouldn't separate!" he called out rather frustrated that she would leave him. "Sticking together would be safer!"

Star continued on as if she hadn't heard his protests.

 _Hes right, we shouldn't go off on our own._

 _ **We can take care of ourselves. Or rather I can take care of us. The only thing your good for is manners and having a stick up your ass.**_

 _Well this is my body as well as yours and I say we stay with our Hero._

Star felt a burning sensation at the back of her head and suppressed it, instead focusing on her undying rage for Heinous

 _You blocked me out...how is this possible?_

 _ **Did you honestly believe you could maintain dominance when you have me doing all of the heavy lifting? The only reason you had so much control was because I was buried deep within our mind after that bitch Heinous tried to get rid of me. But now I have as much control as you do.**_

 _I can still do this._

Pain shot through Star's head as her lighter half attempted to wrest control. However she embraced it and allowed it to fuel her anger.

 _ **Keep it up sister. I am passion, rage, and pain. The more pain I feel the stronger I become.**_

 _Please don't do this. We must not leave behind our champion._

 _ **We will return to him once our vengeance is complete. He has the dimensional scissors so its not like I can just abandon him. Besides I know you want Heinous dead as much as I do.**_

 _I want justice but you speak of vengeance._

 _ **In this case they are one in the same. So stop complaining and lets get this over with. The sooner we get this done the sooner you can have your champion rescue you and the sooner I get what I desire from him.**_

Star continued walking down the corridor towards the headmistress office leaving Marco behind.

* * *

"Bring in all the troops we have." Moon ordered as she gazed at Saint Olga's Reform School for Wayward Princesses. It looked nothing like the brochures but then again even if it had been a bright and sunny school where girls went to learn how to be royalty she doubted it would look very good considering the fact there was an army of monsters besieging it.

She gazed at the hordes of monsters that were forming battle lines in front of the school and even from such a great distance she could see portals that were bringing forth more monsters.

"I've never seen a gathering like this." River stated as he gazed at the enemy alongside his wife. "Not since the last war."

There were easily over a thousand monsters assembled in front of the school which was an almost unheard of gathering. Most organized monster forces had been broken by Moon during the last great monster conflict.

"At least we have numbers on our side." River stated as he looked at their own forces gathering. "We have almost three thousand men gathered and more will be arriving soon."

"If numbers decided the outcome of battles then it would be the mathematicians that ruled the multiverse." Moon replied as she gazed at the enemy forces from their vantage point. "Each one of those war beasts can take out a fair number of men if we allow them to rampage. Our forces rely on good battle formation and discipline to persevere. A battle formation can easily be shattered by a war beast.."

In truth she was uncertain as to how the battle would go. She had three thousand soldiers to field but only three hundred of those were knights. The rest were men-at-arms who were more used to pulling guard duty. Each one was trained in battle and knew how to fight but they had never fought in a true battle before. Most of the veterans from the last war had retired or became knights.

Mewni only had a standing army of about ten thousand troops, very small for a large Kingdom such as theirs. In truth Mewni didn't need much of an army at all since the Queen could use the Butterfly families magic wand to turn every single citizen into an armored soldier with a single wave of her wand. But the wand was now locked away in the school along with her daughter.

It made the Queen nervous and she prayed that her and her husband would be enough to turn the tide should things go badly. Both of them were decked out in their finest equipment. Moon was wearing a battledress complete with form fitting enchanted armor. Her normally large hair was done up in two buns to ensure an enemy couldn't grab onto them. River had replaced his usual blue coat and crown for a full set of the finest armor that Mewni smiths could produce and he was wielding a large two handed battle hammer.

Moon tuned and saw her forces exiting out of numerous portals behind her. She didn't have time to call in the neighboring strongholds and villages for their armies so she had to make do with what forces she had within Mewni itself. She was confident in their chances since she had her most elite units at her disposal.

The landscape around the school didn't allow for cavalry except for the main path to the schools gate so most of her forces were on foot. She had a legion of knights , men-at-arms, a division of Titan knights, and groups of battle-mages. Not to mention that reinforcements were coming in every second.

All in all she had about three thousand men and women in her army although the monsters seemed be summoning a near endless stream of reinforcements from their portals.

As she saw the monsters forming battle-lines her eyes were drawn to the terrible beasts standing at the very front of the monsters. It took time for her to make out what they were but when she did she felt her heart skip a beat.

"Voidborn..."She stated in amazement as she gazed at the terrible creatures. "But no ones been able to command them since Queen Eclipsa."

"It doesn't matter. We will kill these monsters and save our daughter." River declared as he gazed upon the enemy's battle-lines. "They are no match for our army."

Moon felt a chill go down her spine. Voidborn creatures were usually content to spend their time in the Nexus Lands, an ancient place where Eclipsa had first summoned their kind into Mewni. It was a place twisted by dark magic and the Voidborn were content to spend their time there slaughtering each other in endless chaotic battle. People were content to leave the creatures be since they almost never ventured beyond that cursed place.

"You're right about it not mattering." Moon stated as she shook away her doubt. "Nothing will stand in the way of reclaiming our daughter. Have our forces form battle-lines, we will meet the enemy head on."

* * *

Saint Olga's was a large school however there were only on average fifty students at any given time. The school made up for the lack of students by charging large sums of money for tuition for each Princess within its walls, money the royalty of numerous dimensions was all to happy to fork over in exchange for a proper Heiress.

Its for this reason that each student was considered extremely valuable, which is why the bunker where the Princesses were located in was extremely secure, spacious, and safe. It was known as the Maiden vault and had everything a princess would need to wait out a siege in safety. Currently the fifty six princesses who attended the school were sitting in the bunker awaiting whatever fate had in store for them.

Some were praying, others were doing each others hair or applying makeup in an attempt to distract themselves while others were simply cowering in their respective corners of the bunker.

All of them practically screamed when they heard the large metal door open up and a figure that wasnt a guard walked in. The figure was clad in all black, wore a cape, and had a large hat on. To some he looked like a villain come to snatch them away but to most of the girls present he looked like a dashing rogue.

Marco looked up at the various Princesses and had to resist letting out a long whistle of amazement. He hadn't expected the Princesses to be as unique as the monsters he had been fighting. While many looked human there were numerous others of various races present.

The first girl who walked up to him was a demon. It was the only way he could describe the girl in front of him, she had a skin tone that looked like pale whitish-purple skin, salmon-color hair, a pair of horns on her head, and three red eyes with the third being on her forehead.

"Who are you?" She asked as she gazed at the stranger in front of her with her three eyes.

"Yeah, whats a boy doing here?" This voice belong to a small Pixie with blue hair who was hovering in front of his face, her tiny insect-like wings allowing her the gift of flight.

Marco took off his hat and gave a small bow to the group of princesses who were beginning to assemble in front of him. "My name is Marco Diaz..." He thought how best to describe himself and decided that if these girls were anything like Star's princess-like half then it would be best to play the part of a Hero to get them to listen to him. "I am a champion from the Earth Dimension. I've come to rescue you ladies from this terrible place and return you home." He felt utter embarrassment at telling such a lie but he needed them to hurry and he didn't feel like telling his entire life story.

However he wasn't ready for the horde of females to suddenly close in around him.

"He's here to save us from this place!"

"A real Hero like out of the Fairy Tales!"

"After three years there's finally a boy here!"

"Sign my breasts!"

Marco had to fight off a horde of girls who were pushing each other and grasping at him. He was grabbed, poked, and pinched in a variety of places some of which made him audibly yelp out. He had to fight to get away from them and only after several minutes did they calm down enough for him to talk without them interrupting him.

"Alright ladies I have a pair of dimensional scissors. You all need to leave right now." He stated in a serious voice that all the girls listened to with attentive ears. "This school is under attack by monsters so you all need to get out of here immediately before they get here."

After his explanation the sound of roars and various other terrifying noises echoed the halls. Marco turned to the door and loaded a fresh cartridge into his crossbow. "I'm going to hold them off as long as I can, I need the last girl to leave to return the dimensional scissors to me. I still have unfinished business here."

Numerous girls began to applaud his bravery calling him a Hero, Knight, Champion and every other name under the sun. Many even attempted to give him kisses for good luck which he had to politely refuse.

"Sorry girls no time for that, now hurry up and flee while I take care of those monsters." He stated as he escaped their grasping hands.

One of the girls grabbed the scissors and opened up a rift with them and handed the scissors to another girl before jumping through. Each of the girls followed this example as Marco ran out into the hall.

There was only one place the monsters could come from so Marco ran towards the blockade he and Star had passed and got ready for battle. He made sure he had as many ammo cartridges for his crossbow as he could carry, made sure his weapon was working. He was pulled from his weapon inspection by the sounds of footsteps behind him.

He turned and saw several of the princesses had come out of the bunker and were walking towards the barricade.

"I told you to stay in the bunker and escape. Get back in there!" Marco ordered as he tried to usher them back in. He was stopped by the Demon Princess who pushed him away.

"We can take care of ourselves." The girl pointed out as she summoned fire into both her hands. "We can help, the only reason we didn't try to fight was because we had no means of escape. You gave us the scissors so the least we can do is help you hold off the monsters until the other Princesses who cant fight can escape."

"It will take a good ten minutes for them to get that mermaid girl through a portal. She cant leave her tank without a breathing apparatus." The Pixie princess pointed out. "The least we can do is aid you champion."

"Fine then Miss..." Marco realized he didn't know any of their names.

"Priscilla of Pixitopia." The little Pixie stated as she gave him a mid air curtsy.

"Tammy of the Underworld." The Demonic girl gave him a lazy hand wave. "My kind have dealings in your Earth Dimension occasionally. Corrupting human souls is quite the popular pastime."

Another girl stepped forward that Marco didn't recognize but she looked almost human. She had pale skin, crystal blue eyes, and pure white hair. "I am Jadis of the Ice people, its an honor to meet you." She stated as she gave him a curt bow.

Another girl walked forward, she had red skin, and her head was adorned with two large horns. "I am Asteria Princess of the Minos Kingdom."

The introductions were stopped by the sounds of roars and screeches from down the hall. From their vantage point they could see numerous monsters coming down the hall at full speed. Marco aimed his crossbow and brought the monsters into his sights. "Get behind me and-" Marco was pushed aside by Tammy who summoned a giant fireball into her hands and threw it down the hall. The ball of flame collided with the monsters and exploded with great force.

"You should get behind us and watch our backs." Tammy stated as the other girls called forth their own magic. "You did your part now let us do ours."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Outside the office of the headmistress the ground was littered with limbs from both robots and guardsmen. The room glowed crimson as Star Butterfly slashed through the last few guards her blade cleaving through them like a hot knife through butter. They all fell except for one who stood in front of the office of the headmistress with his sword held feebly in front of himself as he shook in fear.

"Please have mercy!" He begged as he watched the crimson haired girl approaching him.

" **No."** Star answered as she approached him. **"I am death and pain."**

 _He is harmless. Let him go and show mercy._

 _ **They ruined our life. How many other lives have they ruined before us? How many other princesses are they going to torture? Men like him allowed all this to happen and I will have justice.**_

 _Sometimes it is best to answer injustice with mercy._

" **I WILL ANSWER INJUSTICE WITH JUSTICE!"** Star screamed as she swung her magical energy blade at her enemy and cut through the mans sword and cleaved him in half along with it, the heat from the blade cauterized his wounds leaving no blood at all.

 _All of this for petty revenge. How many more have to die until your blood lust is satisfied?_

 _ **I will not be satisfied until they have all paid for what they did to us and numerous others. I will not rest until they are all dead and this school burnt to the ground.**_

 _What would Marco say if he could see us right now? Is this why you left our champion behind?_

 _ **I don't know what you're talking about…**_

 _You didn't want him to see this. To see you lost in your rage._

 _ **I don't give a fuck about what he sees. I can tell that hes a moral busybody, he would have just slowed me down. Now shut the fuck up and lets finish this.**_

Star strode up to the Headmistresses door and saw it was a thick metal door with numerous combination locks that would take hours for someone to break through.

 _Whats your solution to this?_

" **When you need a door make a door."** Star stated as crimson energy sprung forth from her wand. She used the blade to slash the door to pieces, the magic easily cleaving through the metal as if it were tissue.

 _Subtle_

" **Fuck subtlety.** **I am long past** **subtlety.** **"** Star muttered as she entered the office. It was just as gaudy as she remembered, everything in it was expensive and of the finest quality and yet it did nothing to brighten up the dark dismal room. The Headmistress was sitting in her chair behind her desk and glared at the new arrival.

"Princess Star Butterfly." Heinous growled. "I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw you slaughtering my men on the surveillance cameras but here you are. My prized pupil has turned into my greatest failure."

" **You seem awfully calm for someone who is about to die."** Star growled as she gazed at the woman's form. **"I am going to make you suffer for every second I spent in this hellhole. You will beg for death but I will not grant it until you have suffered every possible punishment I can inflict upon your body** **and soul** **."**

Heinous didn't seem worried about the girls threats and simply stood up from her desk and held up a small little trigger with a button on it.

"You wont be doing anything like that Star, because here in my hands lays the Final protocol." She gestured to the device in her hand. "If I push this button then the magical leylines that power this school explode and kill everyone in here. If I die then you and everyone else dies with me." She stated confidently, believing she had the upper hand.

" **Do it."** Star ordered without a second of hesitation, which visibly startled Heinous. " **Push the fucking button. I dare you, hell I double dare you PUSH THAT FUCKING BUTTON!"**

 _Or don't, that would also be good._

"This isn't a joke." The Headmistress stated as she back away from the girl who was approaching her. "I'm not bluffing. This will destroy everyone. You will die."

" **That's fine by me, this hardly a life worth living."** Star growled as she glared at the Headmistress. **"I can die content so long as you are dead and this entire school burnt to the ground."** Star watched Heinous who was visibly shaking, after several seconds Star humped forward and with amazing speed cut off the hand the Headmistress was using to hold the trigger.

" **If you had the guts to do something like that you would have done it the second I walked into this office."** Star walked over to the trigger and used her wand to disintegrate it into ash. **"A woman like you loves herself to much to kill herself. But now that this little distraction is out of the way we can get down to business."**

Heinous was clutching the stump where her hand once was and was screaming in pain. She looked up at Star and glared at the girl. "How did you go so wrong? You were perfect the last time I saw you."

" **You were merely talking to my sister."**

"Sister?" Heinous questioned, not understanding the girl. "What sister?"

 _Let me take over. I wish to have a few words with her before this is all over._

 _ **Fine, but I get to punish her.**_

Heinous could only watch as Star's eyes changed to blue and her hair once more took on its pure golden blond color. After a few seconds all traces of her other half was gone and Heinous was once more gazing upon a perfect Princess.

"That would be me."

It took Heinous several seconds to put the pieces together. "So...you lied about us getting rid of that other personality. Here I thought you had simply lost your mind but all this time the two of you were conspiring." She muttered as she gazed at the girl in front of her. "It should have been impossible for you two to cooperate, you're complete opposites with opposing natures."

"You might have shattered our mind, yet you could not shatter our unity or our spirit." She declared strongly as her blue eyes took on a steely quality. "We will restore ourselves, What is broken shall be remade."

The Headmistress scoffed at that proclamation. "Why did you throw it all away?" Heinous asked. "You could have been perfect if you hadn't lied to us. I was actually quite jealous of you. The first truly perfect princess to ever walk the multiverse."

"Perfect?" Star question as her voice faltered. "How is this perfection? I am incomplete. I have all of her memories yet I know I'm not truly Star Butterfly. Its like looking at a picture of a picture of myself. You ruined us!"

Heinous scoffed at the girls outburst. "Even if you did suffer wouldn't it be worth it?" She asked. "I was in your shoes once a long time ago. I rebelled against my family and royal house and was disgraced because of it. That's why I built this school, so that no family would suffer because of a stubborn heiress. What is one life compared to the future of an entire kingdom?"

"It was my life..." Star muttered, her voice growing softer as she felt sadness begin to overwhelm her. She quickly shook those feeling aside and glared at the woman in front of her. "You tried to take away our future, now we are going to take away yours."

"Looks like I created a monster..."

Star let out a light chuckle. "Its in the nature of people like you to create monsters, and its in the nature of monsters to destroy their creators." Star stated as she gazed at Heinous who was glaring at her as she clutched her severed hand. "I will leave you in the hands of my sister and she is not as merciful as I am."

Star once more transformed back to her darker self and red eyes glared at Heinous.

" **She wants you dead as much as I do. But unlike her I intend to enjoy making you suffer."** Star stated as she approached the older woman.

Seeing the bloodthirsty look the girl took on the Headmistress back away in fear, crawling across the floor of her office with her only good hand. "Please don't!" Heinous pleaded as she back away from the deranged teen. "I have money, priceless artifacts, and all sorts of things. Ill give you anything you've ever wanted!"

" **All** **I've** **ever wanted is to watch you drift in and out of** **consciousness** **as your slowly** **disemboweled.** **"** Star declared as she activated her wands magical blade. **"Thankfully** **that's** **something I can accomplish on my own."**

 _Must you do this? Make it quick and clean._

 _ **All over in an instant. Where is the punishment in that?**_

 _She would die._

 _ **We all fucking die. Death isn't a punishment its a fucking inevitability.**_

 _Just finish this so we can leave this place._

Heinous began screaming upon seeing the magical blade, she begged for help, for someone to aid her. Star simply watched her with an amused expression.

Star felt a certain satisfaction at seeing the woman so afraid. She felt great pleasure at being able to echo her previous words from earlier in the night. **"Save your breath** **H** **einous, you'll need it to scream when I start** **tearing** **off your limbs."** Star declared as she raised her blade. Before she could delivered the blow she stopped herself and looked at her magical energy blade and shook her head. **"Actually this is too quick. Lets find something better."**

Star looked around the room until she found a plate on the desk with some silverware on it. She picked up a small silver object and walked back up to the fear filled woman. **"This is** **much** **better."**

"That's a butter knife." Heinous pointed out with obvious fear.

" **So it is."** Star declared happily as she walked up to the Headmistress. **"** **I'm going to take my time and enjoy myself before ending you** **.** **You can never suffer enough for all the things you've done to us and countless others.** **But** **I'm** **going to try my best to make you suffer as we have all suffered."**

"Killing me wont change anything!"

" **Your death will set us free, it will also make me feel really good."**

"Free?" Heinous asked. "You will never be free. You might kill me but you are nothing more then a puppet tangled in string."

" **I'm not a puppet, my sister might be a slave to rules and protocol but I'm free!"** Star argued as she delivered a vicious kick to Heinous that sent the old woman in the face with enough force to send her across the room where she landed in a pained heap.

"She is a slave to rules." Heinous grunted out in pain as she spat out several broken teeth. "But you're a slave to your passions. Neither of you will ever be free."

Star felt a chill go down her spine at those words but she shook those feelings aside and focused on the rage she felt. **"Well** **soon you wont be anything** **. Your words are as empty as your future."** Star approached Heinous with her Butter Knife out and ready.

 _We don't have time for this_

 _ **She needs to suffer.**_

 _Please...killing her with a butter knife will take ages. Just make it quick so we can escape from this place. The sooner you finish this the sooner we can leave with our champion._

 _ **FINE! You never let me do anything I want...**_

Star paused for a second and put the butter knife away and pulled out her wand instead. **"I don't have time to saw through your bones with a knife so I will outsource your pain and suffering** **this evening** **."** Star stated as she gathered magic into her wand.

" **Devouring Swarm."**

A large swarm of enormous rats with glowing red eyes came forth from the wand. They filled the entire office and their beady red eyes gazed at Star, awaiting their masters orders.

Heinous began screaming upon seeing the monstrous rodents. She was terrified of rats and her screams put a smile on Stars face.

"You're a monster!" Heinous screamed at Star as she tried to get away from the frightening rodents.

" **You made us all into monsters."** Star turned to her summoned rats. **"Feast on her flesh."**

The Rats eagerly swarmed Heinous and the night was filled with screams.

* * *

Outside of the school two armies charged at one another. On one side Queen Moon the Undaunted led an army of knights in shining armor and on the other a group of terrible monstrosities with a horde of various monsters backing them up.

The monsters ran at the Mewni army with speed and force creating powerful momentum in their disorganized charge. The strongest monsters such as the Voidborn and warbeasts were spearheading the charge intent on shattering the Mewni army.

Mewman's were individually weaker then the average monster however they made up for it with armor and magic. The Mewman battle lines were made up primarily of men-at-arms, average Mewman foot soldiers wearing chain-mail who wielded a shield ,spear, and short-sword. While not as powerful or as strong a fighter as a knight they made up for it with discipline. They formed a near perfect phalanx, creating a solid wall of shield and spears. Behind the Men-at-arms knights in thick platemail who wielded a variety of powerful weapons were ready to engage in battle should the battle line fail.

Blade and steel met claw and fang as the two sides clashed. Spears were snapped, blades met one another, and shields sounded heavily on armor as both sides ran into one another and the battle began. Mewman soldiers were typically better equipped then monsters since they had heavy armor and properly made weapons. Both sides were fairly evenly matched although the real deciding factor was the strongest fighters in the armies. In this case the best of the Mewman army against the Voidborn monstrosities.

Moon was not the sort of Queen to stand idly by while her soldiers did all the fighting and dying. She ran straight into the thick of battle alongside her husband and Royal Bodyguards. She was in her full battle form with all six of her arms out ready to cast spells.

Moon summoned forth a large amount of magic and used the energy to lift twenty monsters in front of her up into the air and sent them flying off into the distance. As another group descended upon her she summoned forth blue fire from her hands and cast a massive fireball at them which exploded and broke the monsters battle line.

While armies and soldiers did most of the fighting it was no secret that Mewman Queens and other females of royal blood were the key to almost every major victory that Mewni had ever won. Their innate magic was powerful and was the deciding factor of battles beyond counting.

This was the case today as Moon easily used her magic to shatter the enemy ranks while guards mopped up any enemies that were left. She was the tip of the spear and she was allowing her men to cleave their way through the monster ranks.

Her assault was halted by the appearance of a massive creature that stood in her way.

 **"Consume all Magic!"** The Manaspawn declared as it looked upon the greatest source of magic it had ever sensed. Its large fang filled mouth oozed saliva as it gazed at the Queen in front of it.

"Out of my way Voidborn!" Moon declared as she summoned forth a large blue fireball and launched it at the creature. The Manaspawn simply opened its mouth and the fireball dissipated into blue energy, reverting back into the magic that had been used to create it in the first place. The Manaspawn devoured the blue energy and the crystals on its body grew brighter and its muscles grew larger.

 **"More Magic!"** It demanded as it gazed at Moon. **"I want more!"**

If she had been younger Moon would have been startled by the creatures display of power, but she had fought in battles beyond counting and managed to keep her cool. The monster lunged with its claws intent on grabbing the Queen but only grasped the ground as Moon used her large wings to propel herself backwards with several strong flaps.

The Manaspawn charged after Moon knocking aside any knight or soldier that attempted to impede its progress toward the queen. It was eventually stopped by King River Butterfly as he jumped into the air and delivered a vicious strike to the creatures head with his battle hammer.

"Stay away from my wife!" He ordered as he delivered the vicious blow. The monster flew back but managed to grip the ground and catch itself. It glared at the King and Queen and let our a rage filled roar as it prepared to lunge at them.

Before it could attempt to attack its prey again it was stopped by several large figures that blocked its way.

"You will not touch the King or the Queen foul beast!"

The Manaspawn watched as three giant metal constructs stood in front of the King and Queen. They were Titan Knights the best assault troops Mewni had to offer. The Giant constructs were a combination of magic and technology allowing a single knight to be encased in a massive suit of armor that towered over men and monster alike. The armor was enchanted to be resistant to most forms of damage and had enormous strength allowing the suit to wield giant weapons that no normal person could wield.

While most people on Mewni only ever saw the Titan Knights during reenactments of the great monster massacre during Mewnipendance day, any soldier who had ever fought alongside one knew the armor was for more then just show.

The Manaspawn wasn't intimidated since the knights were still smaller then its own form. The beast charged at the knights and reared its claw back and attempted to deliver a powerful slash on the closest enemy. The Knight grabbed the claw with his own giant hand and blocked the blow. The two wrestled as muscle fought against steel.

As the two of them wrestled for control the other two knights ran forward to join their comrade. One hefted a giant sword and another a giant axe and both brought them down on the creature, the steel biting into the creatures shoulders as black blood flew from the creatures new wounds.

The Manaspawn let out a frustrated roar as the crystals that were embedded in its body began to glow red. Summoning all its strength it discharged the magic it had absorbed earlier which sent the three Titan Knights flying back. The Knights were able to quickly recover and regain their bearings but were now staring down an enraged Manaspawn and they watched as the wounds they had inflicted earlier healed themselves.

Moon watched as her knights fought the creature in front of her. She was wanted to aid them but if the creature fed on magic it would simply devour hers whenever she tried to use a spell. All around her soldiers, knights and monsters fought each other in a cacophony of chaos. Mewman battle strategy usually relied upon discipline and a strong battle formation but the Voidborn had shattered their strong troop formations and the result was complete battlefield chaos.

Moon was snapped out of her battlefield observations by her husband grabbing her arm and pulling her up.

"Come on Moon, you have to keep moving!" River stated as he let go of his wife's arm to smack a monster with his battle-hammer. "Our forces can deal with the monsters. You need to find our daughter! Use your wings to fly to the school and find Star, otherwise this will all be for nothing!"

Moon knew he was right but she didn't like the idea of leaving the battle. "If I leave this now then this battle will be lost." She stated as she summoned forth a large amount of magic and sent several monsters flying.

"Our men can take care of themselves!" River pointed out as he fought alongside his wife. "But our daughter is vulnerable! Ill take care of things out here, summon me once you get inside."

She didn't like the idea of leaving but if their daughter was taken or killed all of her troops sacrifices would be for nothing. If anything happened to Star her entire Kingdom would be torn apart, as much as she hated to admit it her daughter was more valuable then all of her forces put together. "You're right. I'll summon you once I get inside." She conceded as she lifted herself off the ground with her wings. She flew through the air and headed straight for the school.

Her flight wasn't without obstacles, she had barely managed to get halfway to the school when swarms of flying monsters descended upon her. They were a mixture of gargoyles and harpies and they flew straight for her with claws and talons bared ready to take her out. Moon didn't slow down and simply summoned her magic around herself until she was glowing a bright blue.

As the creatures descended upon her Moon let out a battle cry and released the energy which sent a massive magical shock wave through the sky that struck every flying beast in the sky which knocked them out of the air and sent them plummeting to the battlefield below where they landed in lifeless heaps. Without missing a beat Moon flapped her wings and was flying through the now enemy clear sky towards the school.

"Nothing will keep me from my daughter."

* * *

"Another dead end?!" Toffee asked as he tried to get his temper under control. Each and every single route towards the bunker where the princesses were being kept was blocked off. His forces from earlier hadn't reported any blockades and ye he and his elite soldiers could go anywhere without a passageway being blocked. "Can you remove it Oculus?"

The Void beast scanned the blocked passage with its many eyes and investigated the rubble the filled it. **"Negative, removal of the rubble would destabilize the entire room and bring this section of the school down upon us. We must find and alternate route...hmmm interesting..."**

"Whats interesting?"

" **Detecting traces of magic on the rubble and the way this passage was collapsed shows that it was done intentionally with great care to prevent people from going through it by force. This is consistent with all other blocked routes."**

"So someone is blocking us intentionally..." Toffee turned to the armored soldiers who were following him. "We cant waste any time. There is one more route to the bunker where the girls are being kept. Lets go!"

Toffee and his forces sprinted through the darkened halls. Toffee led from the front while Oculus followed him and his armored soldiers brought up the rear. Eventually they came into a large room obviously meant to be the schools great hall where large banquet and dances were held. Toffee and his forces were brought to a complete stop when Toffee saw a lone figure floating in the middle of the hall.

"I've been waiting for you Immortal One." Glossaryck stated as he hovered casually in the middle of the great hall and casually ate from a pudding cup he had pilfered from the schools kitchens. "That is the title you go by now right? You change names so often its hard to keep track."

"Sir Glossaryck..." Toffee muttered as he gazed at the small blue man. "So it was you who collapsed those passages, you've been sabotaging us from the start."

Glossaryck shrugged as he finished off the pudding cup and tossed it over to a large pile of empty pudding cups he had eaten while he had been waiting. "I was simply making this meeting possible. Its been so long since we last saw each other. You haven't aged a day how do you do it? Healthy diet? Exercise? Or maybe you get a little nip and tuck done on the side? You can tell me, I wont gossip."

"Why do you want to know? Planning on getting some work done yourself?" The Lizard asked condescendingly. "I would advise taking a bath and maybe not going everywhere in a dirty robe. Also shaving that rats nest you call a beard might take a few years off your decrepit form."

"Was that a joke?" Glossaryck asked as he stroked his beard in thought. "Looks like after all these years you finally managed to pull that stick out of your ass...although now it seems that you're trying to beat people to death with it from the looks of things."

Toffee walked up to the small blue man and pointed his sword at Glossaryck, bringing the blade up until it was pointed right at the magical beings chest. "Listen here little man I didn't come here to exchange words with a magical Glossary. You will tell me where Star Butterfly is. You were always near Moon back when she was in training so that means Star is nearby. So why don't you make it easy on yourself and tell me where the girl is."

"I don't feel like it and even if I told you where she was it wouldn't matter." Glossaryck started as he casually leaned back. "She is on a path that will take her away from you and she has all the protection she needs. Now put the sword away before you embarrass yourself."

Toffee glared at the little blue man and had to resist cutting him. "I'm not going to ask again. Tell me where she is. Unless you think you can take me on in a fight?"

Glossaryck looked Toffee up and down. "You're several millennia too young to threaten me. Ill admit you have a bit of a weight advantage on me but I could kick your ass any day of the week. You forget with age comes experience and I'm older then the stones that this school is built on." he stated lazily. "Besides I don't have to fight you I'm going to leave that to her."

"Her?"

"Yup she is going to fight you very soon." Glossaryck pulled back his sleeve and looked at his watch. "She should be arriving in about three...two...one..."

The wall on the side of the great wall exploded with blue energy and Moon Butterfly flew in her large wings kicking up dust clouds. Her piercing gaze fell upon Toffee and all his followers. Toffee drew his other sword and backed up towards his followers, his gaze never leaving Moon's form.

"Where is my daughter?" Moon asked as she walked up beside Glossaryck. "Where is she Glossaryck?"

"She is someplace safe and under the best possible protection." Glossaryck answered. "In order to make sure she remains safe we must make sure that our old friend here doesn't get to her."

Moons glowing eyes fell upon her greatest enemy. Even beneath all that armor she could still make out his familiar form.

"After all these years...here I thought you had the wisdom to retire from the world." Moon stated as she gazed at the Lizard standing across from her. "So what should I call you now? I hear you go by Immortal One nowadays, you always were one for theatrics."

"Is Immortal One anymore theatrical then Moon the Undaunted?" Toffee asked as he gazed at the Mewman across from him. "As for what to call me you can just call me Toffee, what are titles among old friends?"

"We are not friends anymore, you saw to that yourself."

"Really?" Toffee asked in mock surprise. "Because if I recall correctly it was you who ended our friendship when you refused a perfectly reasonable offer that was mutually beneficial."

Moon narrowed her eyes. "I'm not here to drudge up the past. I know you're here for my daughter and I wont let you kill her."

"Kill her?" Toffee asked in a surprised tone. "You wound me Moon. Despite whatever past disagreements we might have had they most certainly wouldn't lead me to kill your daughter. I simply need her to fulfill a request and so long as she does what I say no harm will come to her."

"Liar!' Moon summoned a massive amount of blue energy around herself as she prepared to lunge at her enemy. While all the armored soldiers and Oculus were on edge Toffee simply looked at Moons display of power with an unimpressed expression.

"Cease this grandstanding Moon, even with all your strength you cant take on all of us. Unless old age had made you as overconfident as you are arrogant."

"We will see who is arrogant." Moon declared. "You should know the while a Mewman Queens body might age her magic only grows stronger."

Behind Toffee Oculus had grown impatient from all the grandstanding and intended finish this battle with a single move. **"** **Let us see how a Queens power stands against the power of the void!"** Oculus declared as the creature gathered energy into its central eye. **"Disintegration ray!"**

The magenta light flew at Moon and engulfed the Queen while everyone else in the room shielded their eyes from the blinding light. The beam of magical plasma dispersed revealing the form of Moon Butterfly who stood adamantly without a single hair out of place. A magical shield of blue energy surrounded her and she dispersed it casually and gazed at the Oculus with an unimpressed expression.

" **Impossible..."**

"My turn." Moon stated as she raised one of her hands in the direction of the Void creature. Blue lightning erupted from her fingertips and struck the multiple eyed creature. The lighting struck the beast and sent it flying to the other end of the room, its flesh smoking from the heat of the attack. Oculus attempted to pick itself up but the Void beast simply fell down again. Its wounds were healing but it would be some time before it regained its mobility."If that's the best the Void has to offer then my ancestor Eclipsa was as stupid as she was evil."

"She had vision, which is more then can be said about any other Mewman Queen."

Moon turned to who had spoken up and saw a dark armored figure wielding a staff walk forward from among Toffees armored followers. Moon glared at the figure and observed his form with suspicious eyes.

"Eclipsa wanted a better world and was willing to do anything to achieve it." The armored figure stated. "Until her own daughters betrayed her and went back to maintaining the status quo."

"I don't know who you are or what you believe but all Eclipsa cared about was power and she allowed her lust for a monster to tear her kingdom apart." Moon stated as she gazed at her opponents. "So you can be silent about such things whoever you are."

"I am known as the Night King." The figure declared as his dark gaze fell upon Moon. "I am named such because I have ascended to leadership in my peoples darkest hour."

Moon wasn't impressed."I don't care who you are or what you're king of. Turn around and walk away from this fight. Following Toffee will be your deaths."

"We are already dead if we allow your kind to hunt us down." He answered. "I for one prefer to be the hunter rather then the hunted."

"It was easy to find allies Moon, you and your people create more and more enemies every time you expand your territory." Toffee chuckled. "In case you haven't noticed Moon you are terribly outnumbered." he gestured to his followers. "Back in your prime it took you and your most elite forces to defeat me and back then you had your wand. You have no chance alone."

"A Queen never fights alone." Moon declared as she summoned magic from within her body. Several large portals opened up around her and from them numerous armored knights came forth led by River Butterfly. They took up positions on either side of Moon and formed a wall of metal and steel. River took his place alongside his wife and gazed at his enemies. Alongside him were two dozen of the best knights Mewni had in its service.

"River!" Toffee stated at the arrival of Mewni's king. "Its been far too long. You grew a beard."

"Save the pleasantries you soulless reptile." River stated as he stood guard next to his wife. "Why have you done this? You know you can win against the might of Mewni!"

"Same old River." Toffee shook his head in amusement. "You are so blinded by your own confidence and hubris that you cannot see the fall that is ahead of you. You all believed me and all monster-kind were defeated all those years ago. But we prepared, grew stronger while you and your people rested in your cradle of power foolishly believing you were all safe and untouchable. Now we will remind you that no one is untouchable."

Moon's six hands glowed blue and created six glowing blue magic swords that were created from her own magical energies and clutched one in each hand. "Still as overconfident as ever Immortal one. Allow me to remind you of your mortality!" Moon disappeared from sight and reappeared in front of Toffee. The two of them engaged in a dance of blades that was nearly impossible for those observing to keep track of.

While Toffee and Moon were engaged in their melee both of their forces charged at one another. Toffees armored soldiers and the Royal guard met in battle and soon the great hall of Saint Olga's was filled with the sound of steel striking steel as the two armored forces fought one another.

In the corner of the room Glossaryck watched the battle impassively. "You all look like you're busy so I'm gonna head off and try to save the Multiverse." He turned and flew out of the room and down the schools halls.

* * *

Marco thought he might not have to fight since the Princesses he came to save were quite powerful. However the monsters that came at them were strong and he soon found himself fighting alongside the girls.

He had long since run out of crossbow bolts and the ferocity of the battle meant he couldn't grab any cartridges from the dead guards so he had his longsword drawn. The sword like all other weapons in the school had a built in magic, by flipping a switch on the hilt the blade became electrified. Marco was using the blades ability to take out any monster that came near him. He could even hit a monster with the flat of the blade and the monster would collapse from the electric shock.

"BY FIRE BE PURGED!" Tammy yelled as the demon princess summoned columns of red flames around herself that incinerated several monsters that had tried to surround her.

Jadis had encased parts of her body in ice, creating armor made of pure ice that could deflect any blade that came near it. She was using ice magic to freeze any monster she could see and the very air around her seemed devoid of all heat and drained the stamina of those near her.

Priscilla was using her small size and speed to fly around the monsters while firing blue magical energy from her hands. The Pixie was nearly impossible to keep track of and kept her distance from most enemies.

Asteria had had surprised Marco by growing incredibly large and muscular and the once dainty princess became like a Minotaur of legend. Her muscled body was two times his height which allowed her to tower over any monster they were fighting. She used her horns, muscled arms, and spiked tail to psychically crush any monster that came near her.

Marco ducked under the blade of a lizard man and hit the monster with the flat of his sword, electrifying the reptile and causing it to collapse to the ground. Breathing heavily Marco couldn't help but reflect on his current situation.

' _S_ _elf defense classes are one thing but this is a life or death battle.'_ He jumped out of the way of a large grey skinned monsters attack, before it could attack Marco again it was taken out my Asteria's tail which clobbered the monster and sent it flying across the hall. _'_ _I'm_ _not a soldier...'_

He was broken from his thoughts by the screams of Priscilla. The little Pixie was caught by a red skinned monster with horns. It held her in his muscular hand and looked like it was about to squeeze the life out of the little Pixie.

Marco's body moved on its own with speed he didn't know he could achieve and he closed the distance between himself and the monster. He delivered a vicious cut to the monsters arm and severed it from its torso which allowed Priscilla to fly away and the dismembered hand loosened its grip on her.

' _I cant doubt myself. If I fail here then these girls will die and Star wont be able to escape from this place.'_ He thought to himself as he got into a combat stance and prepared to face off against the remaining monsters. _'Its time to man up and git gud.'_

Marco ran towards a cockatrice that was attempting to sneak up on Asteria. He swung his blade in a silver arc that cut into the creatures thick hide, the wound was shallow the electricity from his sword did the rest and electrified the creature which promptly fell to the ground and ceased to move.

He heard the sound of footsteps behind him and turned to see a large orc charging at him with a crude iron sword. The monster swung his weapon at Marco who brought up his own blade to block the attack. Electricity arced from his blade and bit into the other monsters sword, the shock causing the orc to drop the sword as his hand twitched in pain.

Not giving his enemy a chance to recover Marco drove his sword into the orcs chest. Blood spilled from the wound only to be cauterized a second later by the electric heat radiating off the blade. Marco pulled the sword out and allowed his opponent to fall to the floor lifeless.

' _He attacked first. Its self defense, he had every chance to leave me the hell alone.'_ He thought as forced himself to solider on. _'Its life or death_ _and I am not going to be the one who gets death._ _'_

The princesses had cleared the rest of the monsters out and a second of quiet overcame the hall as battle ceased. Several seconds passed until they heard the sounds of more footsteps coming from down the hall.

"I have not come this far to die now."

* * *

Outside the school the battle still raged on. The organized Mewman battlelines had been shattered and the battle had turned into a large melee as monster and Mewman fought each other.

At the central battleline Grunt Johansen who was the brother of River Butterfly was trying his best to hold his forces together. Grunt was a tall man who towered over everyone and he had broad shoulders, rippling muscles, a bald head, and a great bear cloak on his back. He was missing his right hand which never bothered him since he was left handed. He had a variety of prosthetic for his hand from a hook to a set of magic dentures that helped him eat during meals. Today however he had a prosthetic hand attached to a large greatshield. In his right hand he held a large claymore that a normal man would need two hands to wield however he swung it as easily as a normal man would swing a normal blade.

"Keep ranks you bastards!" Grunt roared to his men as they struggled to hold back the monsters. "My grandmothers sewing circle could hold a defensive line better then you sorry louts! I want a strong defensive line to protect our siege equipment and arbalests!"

The Mewman forces reformed their battle-line and began pushing the monsters back. However a large roar deafened monster and Mewman alike and a large creature that was as tall as a two story house charge towards the center of the Mewman ranks. It had green hide that was thick and calloused and it had enormous tusks. It was a swamp mammoth and it charged through the center battle-line slamming its large tusks into monster and Mewman alike caring not about hitting allies.

Grunt turned to several units of arbalests who were formed up behind him.

"Bring that thing down!"

His men held their ground as arbalests fired numerous arrows over the defensive line and into the monster large mammoth. The bolts were enchanted with fire and ignited mid flight. They pounded the beast and ripped into its flesh and soon it was engulfed in flames.

The mammoth began to rampage and slam its tusks into everything around it as it writhed in pain from the flames. Its tusks struck friend and foe alike in its pain induced rage. Grunt pushed past his men and held his claymore into the air. The perpetually stormy skies that surrounded Saint Olga's school would serve him well and his magic summoned forth a bolt of lighting that struck his claymore empowering it with the power of lighting. He slammed the claymore into the earth in front of the mammoth and the electrical energy opened up a large crack in the surface of the ground beneath the mammoths feet.

With a large roar of pain the mammoth fell into the opening in the ground taking a large number of monsters with it, its flaming corpse creating a pit of fire on the battlefield. Before anyone could celebrate another roar echoed across the battlefield as a large hydra appeared behind the monsters lines and began running at the Mewni battle-lines its six head breathing fire.

"Finally a real challenge!" Grunt called out in joy as he gazed at the monstrous beast charging at them. Most of the monster army was staying back to avoid being caught in the crossfire of the fight. Grunt turned to his family members who were waiting in the reserve with the knights. Each member of the Johansen clan were tall, broad shouldered warriors including the female members of the family. "Johansen family! Lets kill this thing so we can have some Hydra steaks after the battle!"

The Johansen clan were very different from the average Mewman noble family. They were a family of warriors who valued combat prowess over all other things. They gained their position as a noble family through their heroism in war and were looked down on by other nobles within Mewni because of that fact. Today Grunt intended to remind everyone on Mewni why their family was nobility. It wasn't because of high birth but rather combat prowess and service to the crown.

As his family began to charge toward the large fire-breathing hydra a large ball of magical energy slammed into the creature followed by several more magical volleys. All of the Hydras heads roared in pain and fury as it collapsed under the magical bombardment.

Grunt and the rest of the Johansen's turned and saw a company of soldiers in silver gilded plate ride up on Warnicorns and at the front of the company was the Butterfly family. At the front of the group of nobles was Etheria Butterfly, aunt to the Queen and considered to be the matriarch of the Butterfly family.

Grunt stormed up to Etheria, with her on a Warnicorn she was at perfect eye level with him. "What do you think you're doing here Butterfly?" Grunt growled as he glared at the short stout woman. "This is my battle line and I don't need a bunch of perfumed weaklings messing up my battle."

He gazed at the rest of the Butterfly family and had to resist punching them in their pampered faces. One would think that the battle was a party by the way the Butterfly family had dressed. They wore dyed silk tabard's over their armor, their eyes were painted, they reeked of perfume, and their hair was immaculately groomed and shiny. Even the men had painted eyes and curled lashes making them look like half-women to Grunts eyes.

As usual the Butterfly family was attended by numerous squires who attended to them and carried their battle-standards and waited to attend them if they so much as broke a nail.

The sight was enough to make Grunt want to gouge his own eyes out.

Etheria could see Grunts contempt and simply gave him her famous condescending gaze. "I cant very well trust the safety of my favorite niece to a bunch of unwashed lowborn barbarians such as yourselves." Etheria stated as she allowed one of her squires to help her off her warnicorn. "Star is trapped in that school and we will rescue her. You barbarians can leave and go get drunk at a bar somewhere."

Grunt would have retorted but they were shaken from their argument by a deafening roar followed by numerous screams. The Johansen and Butterfly family had to move quickly to avoid the forms of two Titan Knights flying through the air and landing roughly in the ground where the two families had once stood.

The two giant suits of armor were mangled and one of the men who had been controlling the massive suit of armor was trying to escape his armor as he screamed warning to his fellow soldiers.

"The Voidborn are too strong!" The man yelled as he managed to get out of his armor. "They are tearing us apart out there!"

" **There will be no end to your suffering!"**

" **Consume all magic!"**

The Johansen and Butterfly families turned their gaze to see two enormous creatures walking through the main battle line.

The Void Reaver flexed its four arms and gazed at the Butterfly family with dark eyes. **"I smell the blood of a Butterfly. Shall I clip its wings?"** The creature asked as its evil gaze fell upon Etheria.

" **Your magic rich blood will feed my power!"** The Manaspawn roared as it gazed at its enemies.

Etheria turned to Grunt."What say we have out own little game of flags? First one to cut through these Voidborn and make it to the school gets bragging rights until the next family picnic." She stated as she faced off against the Void creatures with her family forming up behind her.

Grunt hefted his claymore and prepared for battle. "Ill take that bet. I just hope you don't get those pretty silken tabards of your covered in blood." He turned to his forces behind him. "We'll take on the big ones! The rest of you make sure the small fry don't sneak up on us!"

The Butterfly and Johansen families charged the two Void creatures while their forces engaged the rest of the monster army.

* * *

The battle in the main hall of the school had turned bloody quickly. Moon and Toffee were crossing blades at such speeds that it was nearly impossible to keep up with their battle. Their fight was a whirlwind of blades and any one who tried to interfere was shredded by the swords that Moon and Toffee were swinging.

Moon had six arms and six blades were hard to block. Toffee had to work his muscles to keep deflecting Moons six swords with his two. He allowed several strikes to get through his guard if the strikes would only graze him since he healed those cuts instantly thanks to his regenerative powers, instead he focused on the strikes that would severe a limb or his head.

"You've gotten faster." Moon stated as she brought her six blades down upon him with a vertical slice that would have cut him from head to toe if he hadn't used his two blades to block the attack.

"So have you." Toffee replied as he forced her away with his brute strength. He ducked under several of Moons attacks and tried to retaliate with before launching several fierce swings at her.

Moon grew tired of crossing blades with her opponent and desummoned her swords. Before Toffee could take advantage of Moons unguarded state the Queen summoned forth her magic and charged right at Toffee. The reptile brought up his swords but Moon was on him too quickly, she channeled a great deal of magical energy into her hands and slammed her palms into the lizards chest.

Toffee felt the force hit his chest and felt his bones break and he coughed up blood. The force of the attack sent him flying upwards into the ceiling and his form crashed through the stone roof of the hall. Moon didn't wait a second and followed after her opponent intent on finishing the fight.

While Toffee and Moon had their battle River and his royal knights were busy fighting the Night King and his forces. River and the Night King were exchanging blows against one another as their soldiers fought around them.

River was delivering blow after blow with his war hammer as the Night King kept blocking his attacks with his sword and staff. Eventually Rivers blows grew so powerful that the sword shattered under the Kings constant assault. River stepped back and gave the Night King some breathing room.

"Pick up another sword." River ordered as he gazed at his opponent. "There are plenty laying around."

The ground around them was littered with weapons from fallen warriors. Knights and Dark soldiers fought one another and many had fallen. The Night King did not pick up a sword but rather used both his hands to wield his staff.

"I appreciate your honor but I do not need a blade to defeat you." The Night Kings staff began to emit white energy and the air around him became chilled like it was the dead of winter. "Let us resume our fight."

River ran at his opponent and the resumed their battle. Rivers delivered strike after strike with his warhammer but his opponent simply dodged attack after attack. He delivered a vicious vertical strike with his hammer intent on taking his opponents head off but the Knight King deftly ducked under the blow and retaliated by thrusting the point on his staff into Rivers chest. River was knocked back by a powerful burst of energy from the staff and only barely managed to keep his footing.

River clutched his chest and felt ice forming upon it and he had to pry the ice free with his free hand. The air was cold and it was quickly seeping the stamina from him and the strike left him chilled to the bone.

The Night King charged at River once more and swung his staff in an arc with the glowing crystal at the tip freezing anything it touched. River had to dodge each attack as he was put on the defensive. He used his warhammer to block several strikes but with each successive block the metal that his warhammer was made out of grew colder and he knew if he kept blocking with it he would either have to drop it or the ice would cause the metal to shatter.

River ducked under a strike and slammed his warhammer into the exposed side of the Night King. The black armor cracked and River was sure he shattered at least one of his opponents ribs. The Night King jumped back and swung his staff with his right hand as his left cradled his injured side. The staff impacted with Rivers shoulder which caused him to drop his warhammer and scramble backwards away from his enemy.

Both stood their distance and glared at one another. The Night King used Ice to seal the cracks in his back plate armor and to soothe the pain in his side. He kicked Rivers warhammer back to him and the Mewman King picked it up and got into a battle stance.

"I'm surprised by your chivalry. Most monsters don't have honor." River stated as he hefted the warhammer in his right hand trying to ignore the pain in his right shoulder.

His opponent chuckled. "Most don't have the luxury, Ours is a life where we fight endlessly to survive." He answered. "Honor is a luxury and you Mewman's are the ones who have more luxury then anyone else since you live off the fat of the heartlands that you stole from us."

"We settled the Heartlands of Mewni and your kind attempted to steal them from us." River answered with an edge in his voice. "We were a humble people who came here in pursuit of life, liberty, and corn!"

"Indeed...life liberty, and corn...but tell me what were you looking for liberty from?"

That question surprised River a bit. He was never a great student of history but he knew that the beginning of all history books started at the founding of Mewni. There was little to nothing written before the early Mewman settlers had arrived on the shores of the land known as Mewni.

"You were refugees escaping a terrible fate, you sailed to our lands looking for sanctuary. When you first came to the shores of our land we welcomed you with open arms." The Night King stated. "We gave you shelter and in return you gave us ruin and death."

"Lies." River replied, not knowing how else to reply to that statement.

"Believe whatever you want Mewman." He replied. "Your time will soon come to and end and we will take back the heartlands."

The two king closed the distance between each other and engaged in battle once more.

* * *

"Bring it down!" Grunt cried out as his family members encircled and fought the Manaspawn. Its massive body and powerful arms were fairly useless against the Johansen clan. Unlike most royal families or soldiers the Johansen's didn't wear platemail armor and instead chose mobility over protection. Much like their barbarian ancestors they wore boiled leather armor made from the hide of strong beasts that they hunted around Mewni.

The Johansen's danced around the beasts large sweeping attacks and hacked at its trunk like legs with axes, swords and every other weapon they had. Several members of the family were using large throwing spears to impale the creatures limbs and other vulnerable parts.

The Manaspawn was having a difficult time with its enemies since they didn't use any magic and therefore it had no magic to consume to power itself with. What little magic it had leftover from earlier was being used fuel its bodies regeneration as it attempted to heal the various wounds its enemies were inflicting upon it.

" **You lack magic!"** It screeched as it slammed one of its arms at one of its enemies only for the man to jump out of the way of its assault. **"Must have magic!"**

"Well you're out of luck because we use our brute strength to win fights!" Grunt cried out as he charged at the beast. He jumped at the beasts face using his strong legs to propel him through the air and tried to impale one of the beasts eyes with his claymore.

The Manaspawn was ready for his attack and attempted to bite Grunt but the man saw the attack coming and rammed his greatshield into the creatures mouth. The Manaspawn roared in frustration as it tired to crush the thick metal shield in its mouth but the metal was the finest enchanted steel that Mewni blacksmiths had produced and it wouldn't bend an inch. Grunt used the opportunity to detach his arm from his shield leaving behind only a small hook on his stump. He climbed up onto the beasts head and drove his sword into the creatures skull where he believed the brain would be.

The Manaspawn roared in pain and shook its head knocking Grunt off of its head. The blade had pierced deep but the creatures thick skull kept it from going in deep enough to be lethal.

Jormund and Kelda Johansen both broad shouldered and strong individuals ran up behind the creatures legs and each carried a doubled bladed axe that required two hands to heft. Like lumberjacks they hacked at the back of the beasts legs like they were tree trunks. The Manaspawn let out a shriek of pain but it stood strong and refused to be brought down.

Its stubbornness was short lived because Lump Johansen came charging in from behind. Several years earlier Lump had been decapitated during a game of flags with his family, luckily the family managed to save him by magically attaching his head to the body of a Warnicorn. Lump was using his new body to his advantage and delivered a fierce flying tackle to the Manaspawn's back which caused the creature to succumb to the wounds in its legs which made the creature fall to its knees in pain.

Hodir Johansen was a mammoth of a man with a great brown beard, a large body, and he wore leather armor with the only exception being the helm on his head which sported two large horns. He ran up to the Manaspawn and used his muscles to heft an enormous warhammer. He jumped into the air and brought it down on the stunned beasts head, the hammer impacted the sword that Grunt had driven into the creatures skull the same way a hammer would drive a nail into wood. Blood poured from the beasts mouth as it fell to the ground dead.

While the Johansen family were fighting the Manaspawn the Butterfly family was busy fighting the Void Reaver. The Reaver was a massive behemoth and its great strength was evident as it swung its massive arms and tail at its enemies, each strike shaking the very earth.

The Butterfly family while not as physically adept as a warrior clan like the Johansen clan were extremely gifted in magic. It was due to the strength of their magical bloodline that sealed their place as the ruling family of Mewni. As a result they were the most adept magic users in the kingdom and used magic as their primary mode of fighting.

The Butterfly family kept their distance from the monster and instead attempted to whittle down the creature with their spell-craft. Fireballs, lighting, energy blasts, and various other spells struck the monster as the Butterfly family encircled the creature. The Reaver roared in anger but kept its ground, its thick hide absorbing the brunt of most of the spells damage.

The male members of the Butterfly family were riding circles around the Reaver using their warnicorn's speed to avoid its strikes while the female members of the family chose to take to the sky with their Butterfly-like wings and rain down destruction from the air.

" **I will drag you screaming into the void!"** The Void Reaver yelled as it charged at the warnicorn's. While male Mewman's couldn't use innate magic like their female counterparts they could draw it out from their bodies using a focus such as a staff or wand.

Heartrude was Star's uncle and was leading the Warnicorn charge. He held a golden staff with a red heart shaped crystal up high and pointed it towards the Reaver.

"Crystal Heart Attack!" He yelled as crystal shaped hearts flew from the tip of the staff and embedded themselves in the Reaver's body. The creature responded by swinging its large tail at Heartrude and the result was the Heartrude and his warnicorn being sent flying off. Heartrude would have probably been crushed if not for one of the women in his family swooping down and saving him before he could impact with the ground.

The Void Reaver grew angry at all the spell being flung at him responded by going on the offensive. The creatures purple skin opened up and all over its body cruel purple spikes appeared to rise from the creatures flesh until it looked like a porcupine. with a feral roar the Reaver expelled all the spikes and they shot in numerous direction but were mainly aimed at the sky where the female members of the Butterfly family were flying.

Etheria and her family had to fly around the spikes and one managed to strike Felicity Butterfly in the shoulder but the wound was minor and Felicity managed to remove the spike and use her magic to heal herself in only a matter of seconds.

The Void Reaver glared at its enemies. **"You can run** **but I will not be defeated!"** The beast roared. **"I am the Void itself!"**

The Butterfly family answered with their magic.

"Lighting Spear!"

"Arcane Barrage!"

"Ice Lance!"

"Lunar Strike!"

The Butterfly family called out every spell they knew and the Void Reaver's form was consumed by powerful magic. Smoke covered the area as the force of all the spells filled the air with ambient magic. The ground was burnt, frozen, and melted in numerous places due to the numerous elemental spells that the Butterfly family had used.

When the smoke cleared they saw the form of the Void Reaver still standing. Its flesh was burnt and it was bleeding from numerous wounds but the beast was still standing and the wounds were sealing themselves up. **"I cannot be destroyed. Your magic is nothing compared to the power of the Void!"** The Reaver roared as it glared at its enemies. **"My form is too powerful for mortals like you to destroy it!"**

Etheria let out a tired sigh. "If we cant destroy you then we will simply get rid of you." She reached one of her arms into her pocket and pulled out several seeds and threw them at the Void Reaver and they landed harmlessly at the creatures feet.

" **You planning on gardening me** **to** **death?"** The creature muttered as it stomped on the seeds that Etheria had thrown at it. **"You mortals** **grow** **more pathetic with each** **generation.** **I will-"** He was cut off by pain shooting through his leg and looked down and saw enormous vines rising out of the ground and wrapping themselves around his body, the vines had large thorns that dug into his flesh.

"You're too strong to be killed with brute force but lets see how you deal with being buried alive." Etheria stated as she watched the massive beast being consumed by vines.

The Void Reaver flexed its muscles and tore at the vines with its claws and pincers but the vines simply grew back stronger and they were dragging him beneath the ground. His massive form began to sink into the earth as the vines dragged him beneath the dirt.

" **This is not the end! I am Immortal! When our bodies die our souls return to the void and we are reborn!"** The creature ranted. **"I will return and-"** Its ranting was ended by the ground beneath the beast overwhelming it. All that was left was a small flower that sprouted up from the ground marking the creatures earthen grave.

The death of both Voidborn destroyed the morale for the monster army. While the Johansen and butterfly families were fighting the Voidborn monsters the Royal army had been only just holding their ground but now they were pushing the enemy back.

Etheria Butterfly turned towards the school and saw the Johansen family were already cutting their way through the rest of the monsters as they made their trek towards the school.

"See you later old lady, we're going to be the ones to rescue Star!" Grunt called out as he ran towards the school.

"Oh no you don't. Lets get going Butterfly family!" She called out. "I wont let those barbarians rescue Star before us!"

* * *

Marco swung his blade and it connected with the exposed flesh of some type of humanoid wolf monster. The creature let out a howl of pain before falling to the ground and ceased to move.

Marco cut down numerous enemies as he tried his best to assist the princesses in their fight. However there seemed to be no end to the monsters and the group was slowly being overwhelmed.

Jadis conjured several small throwing knives constructed from ice and threw them into the monsters that were attacking them. "I can stop them but you need to keep them off me!" Jadis called out as she began summoning magic from within herself. "I need to focus!"

Marco and the other girls quickly formed a defensive circle around Jadis and kept back any attacking monster that might try to harm her.

Marco backed away from several small rat-like creatures known as kobold's. They were using crude spears to make up for their lack of reach due to their small size. Marco activated his sword and the electricity surged through the blade. He used his sword to smack the tips of the kobold's crude spears and the electrical surge went through the spears metal shafts which caused the monsters to drop their weapons. Marco lunged forward and delivered lethal blows to the small rat creatures. Several more took their place and Marco had to use all his flexibility to dance around the spears and blades of his enemies while delivering his own attacks.

Tammy was growing tired and she was losing steam as she summoned more and more fire so she decided to do bring out one of her stronger spells. The demon girl raised both her hands in the air and began speaking words too fast and foreign for any one in the room to comprehend. Black energy engulfed her hands and she summoned forth her demonic energy.

" **Your were my enemies in life but now you will serve me in death!"** Tammy called out as she unleashed her magic. The black energy in her hands went forth flew throughout the room and it entered the dead bodies of monsters and even the dead school guards. **"You are mine now. I command you to slaughter my enemies. Do it in your Mistresses name!"** Their bodies rose and they began attacking the monsters who were quickly being overwhelmed by their own dead. Even monsters and guards that had limbs missing were crawling and shambling towards the enemy.

Several monsters turned and ran from the sight of their own dead while the others continued to fight. It was difficult since the undead minions Tammy had summoned felt no pain and had to be hacked to bits in order for them to stop being a threat. It gave Marco and the others ample breathing room.

"This is amazing but I would like to point out that its a thousand different kinds of fucked up." Priscilla pointed out as she hovered in the air and watched the carnage.

Tammy was on her knees and breathing heavily but managed to summon enough strength to talk. "Well sorry but I am a demon." She pointed out. "Its not like I can summon unicorns and rainbows to slaughter my enemies."

"We cant let this go to waste we need to press the attack." Asteria pointed out. The Minotaur princess used her massive strength to grab a large chunk of stone out of the schools wall with her bare hands. She threw the large piece of wall down the wall where it took out several monsters that had tried to run past the undead.

Marco hefted his crossbow off his back and fired several bolts into the horde of monsters while the other princesses assisted him. Priscilla used her magic, and Asteria used her strength to beat back the monsters. They held out long enough for Jadis to gather the magic she needed.

"Everyone behind me!" The Ice princess called out as she summoned forth her own magic. Everyone got behind her and she unleashed her ice magic in front of her.

"Frozen Tomb!" Jadis called out as ice magic surged from her fingertips and surged down the hall. Everything froze like it was the dead of winter and the hall was soon filled with monsters entombed in Ice. Her magic didn't end there and the Ice in front of her expanded and began to fill the hall until the entire hallway was sealed off by a wall of thick Ice.

"That...should...hold them..." Jadis muttered as she fell to her knees. Marco tried to help her up but had to pull his hand back when he felt how cold she was. Jadis gave him a comforting smile. "Don't worry, I've never used that much magic before so I just need a moment to catch my breath."

"Same here." Tammy stated as she felt her own exhaustion catching up with her.

"Well that was amazing." Marco stated as he looked around at the royalty surrounding him. "Makes me wonder why you girls even needed to be rescued."

"Without working dimensional scissors we were helpless." Asteria pointed out as she relaxed her muscles and reverted back to her usual small form. "Sure we could overpower the guards but then what? There's hundreds of guards and this school is located in the middle of nowhere in a backwater dimension. We had no hope until you showed up with those scissors and news that the schools defenses were down."

"Well I'm just glad that you're all safe." Marco said as he took a few moments to catch his breath. His break was cut short by the sound of the door to the maiden vault opening up and a blonde four armed princess running out with the dimensional scissors in one of her hands.

"Its about fucking time." Tammy muttered as she walked up to the new arrival. "How long does it take to open up a portal and get people through it?"

The new princess glared at the demon. "There were fifty of us and that stupid mermaid tank took forever to unscrew off the wall." The girl pointed out. She ignored the demon girl and instead walked straight up to Marco. "So you're the guy who saved us. My names Azura, I just wanted to give you my thanks before we parted ways."

The girl wrapped her four arms around one of Marcos arms and the teenage boy tried to get out of her grip. "No thanks necessary, lets just get you out of here before more monsters show up." He said whilst trying to get out of her iron grip.

Azura wouldnt budge and instead leaned in close to Marco. "You're right, you should escape with me to my dimension. Ill show you just how thankful I am." She leaned in close until her breath was tickling his ear. "You ever get a handjob from a girl with four hands? By the time I'm done with you you're going to wish you had four dicks."

Before Marco could respond Azura was grabbed by Tammy who promptly took custody of the dimensional scissors and opened up a portal. "You can be a slut on your own time, for now we have to escape." She picked Azura up like she was a sack of potatoes and threw the princess through the portal. "Come on everyone, this portal leads to my dimension where my dad can give you all a ride to wherever it is you need to go."

"Thank you!"

"Ill pay you back someday!"

"Ill send you crystals!"

Asteria, Jadis, and Priscilla all went through the portal Tammy entered in halfway before turning to Marco. "You sure you don't want to come?" She asked as she gazed at the teen.

"I still have one more person I need to save." Marco answered as he hefted his crossbow and sword. "Shes going to need those scissors to get out of here."

Tammy tossed the scissors to Marco who deftly caught them. "Well don't get killed." The demoness ordered lightheartedly. "You are owed quite a few boons from many princesses. Myself included." She gave Marco what he believed was a wink although it was hard to tell since she had three eyes. "Don't get yourself killed." With hat said she went through her portal and Marco was left alone in the hallway.

He counted out how his supplies. He had one clip left for his crossbow and his sword was starting to show wear and tear. The wounds he had received earlier in the night were also aching alone with several bruises and small cuts he had gotten from his latest fight. Without the adrenaline of battle he was also becoming aware of how tired he was.

"I just need to find Star." he said to himself as he began his trek down the hall where Star had gone. "I hope shes okay."

* * *

Moon Butterfly was hovering in the air above the school as she gathered a large amount of magical energy into her six hands as she prepared a powerful spell. Below her standing on the schools stone roof Toffee was watching her with a bored expression.

"Stop it already Moon." He commanded as he watched her turn the magical energy into a giant blue fireball. "You only embarrass yourself with this display. We both know how this will end."

Moon ignored him and hurled the massive fireball at her opponent. It engulfed Toffee and exploded with blue fire. Toffee walked out of the flames, his flesh was scorched and riddled with burn marks and his metal armor glowed from the heat. However after a few seconds his wounds healed and burns faded until he looked perfectly healthy.

"You know I cant be killed." Toffee stated as he smoothed his newly grown hair into its usual slicked back style. "We've been doing this for about ten minutes. You burn me and my flesh heals, cut off a limb it grows back, you crush my body and my bones reshape and mend. We could keep doing this forever."

"Then lets fight forever." Moon answered in a stubborn tone. "As long as I can keep you away from my daughter I will consider this a victory."

Toffee chuckled upon hearing that. "Ah yes defending your daughter. Well rest assured Moon I have no desire to harm her." He stated. "In fact after all the things my spies have learned about this place the girl might even look upon me as a savior."

"I will be the one to save my daughter!" Moon answered as she glared at her opponent. "You might not want to kill my daughter but I know you well enough that whatever it is you have planned with harm countless others."

"You want to save her?" Toffee asked in a condescending tone. "Why Moon you're the one who sent her here. My spies told me all sorts of terrible things about this place. You sent your daughter to be tortured and turned into a mindless drone just so you could secure your throne for another generation."

Those words cut Moon deeper then any blade possibly could, she struggled to find a response. "I had no idea, I got so many letters from Star..."

"Ah yes letters." Toffee was enjoying revealing all the truths he had discovered to Moon. "No doubt written in Stars own handwriting. Do you know how they managed that? They tell the girls what to write to their families and if they refuse they starve them. They cant risk causing the princesses harm since they are royalty so they give them vitamin supplements, enough to keep them healthy and alive but they do nothing to stop the gnawing hunger. I wonder how long Star held out before she wrote those letters...a week? A month perhaps? Maybe you should try asking her the next time you see her and-" He was cut off from his speech by an arc of lighting that Moon shot from her fingertips which sent him flying across the rooftop.

Toffee picked himself up, his flesh still smoking as it slowly healed itself. "At this point I think I should adopt her. Heaven knows Star doesn't seem to have any true parents to raise her. If she was my daughter I would never have sent her to a place like this." he ducked under another arc of lighting however another quickly followed which flung him across the roof. Even with the pain surging through his body as it healed itself he couldn't help but laugh. "Hahahahaha. How does it feel Moon?"

"How does what feel?" Moon asked as she walked towards him, magic surging from her hands in preparation of delivering another attack on her reptilian opponent.

"How does it feel knowing that all of this could have been avoided?" He asked as he picked himself up. "We both could have been saviors. Mewni's culture is stagnant, nothing has changed despite the thousands of years the kingdom has existed. Its systems, governance, and values are flawed. We both saw it when we were younger and we both knew what the answer was."

"We were young and believed we had all the answers." Moon answered as she allowed herself to remember a time when the two of them hadn't been at each others throats. "Sadly the real world is much more complicated then the idealism of two teenagers who believed they could change the world."

"A fusion of Mewman and Monster society would have been beautiful. A thesis and antithesis meeting, correcting each others flaws and leaving no weakness." Toffee stated. "You just didn't have the will to make the changes necessary. I thought I had found like-minded individuals in you and River."

"More like I wasn't willing to destroy Mewni society as I know it. My people are stubborn and our culture is ingrained within us." Moon explained as she remembered making this same argument to him so many years ago. "There would have been bloodshed and revolution."

"And you think this is better?" Toffee pointed towards the battlefield. From the rooftop they could see Mewman's and Monsters fighting, the sounds of steel clashing and screams of pain and rage filled the air. "Our people have been slaughtering each other for thousands of years, this endless conflict will go on forever. We could have stopped it, everyone would have looked at us and seen hope. Instead all they will know is despair."

"I made my choice and I chose my people and my duty."

"How does it feel knowing that every decision you've ever made has brought devastation?" He gestured towards the battle as the sounds of death filled the air. "Each choice you've made has led to a greater evil."

"I suppose you are the greater evil?" Moon asked as her blue eyes stared into Toffees yellow ones. "Even when we were younger I saw within you ambition and a lust for power. Perhaps you are right and Mewni needs to be rebuilt from the ground up. However it will not be either of us who does it."

"You are half right, it wont be you who does it." He answered as he drew his swords. "Now enough talking, there is only one way this fight will end."

Moon summoned her own blades and charged at Toffee. Their blades met in a deadlock and Moon glared at her enemy. "You may be able to grow back body parts. But when I'm done with you the parts are going to have to grow you back!" She drew her blades back and delivered several well timed strikes with her six swords. Toffee kept up with the blades but the sheer amount of them and the force behind the blows were causing him to back up.

On of Moons strikes hit true and she cut off his left arm. Toffee promptly grew it back but the blade it had been clutching had flown across the rooftop along with his missing appendage.

Toffee went on the offensive and used his sword with both hands and attempted to bring Moon down. Their might was a dance of blades that any onlooker would find difficult to keep up with. Moon was struggling to keep up with Toffees attacks, while he only had one sword he was swinging it quicker then she could swing her six blades and each of his strikes required at least three of her blades to block effectively.

' _I know what I have to do.'_ She thought to herself as she continued deflecting his blows.

Toffee saw an opening and went for it. His sword soared past her defenses and he managed to stab Moon in her side, the blade sliding easily through her flesh. He thought he had won but was proven wrong when Moon dropped all her swords and used her four of her arms to grab onto Toffees sword arm and used her other two to grab his free one.

Toffee struggled to move the sword that was still buried in Moons side but her arms had him locked in and unable to move. "You left yourself open on purpose..." Toffee growled as he found himself struggling uselessly against Moons arms.

"You didn't hit anything vital with your strike, I cant promise the same for this attack." Moon answered as she began to channel magic within herself. Her arms glowed and Toffee felt magic entering his body, his skin rippled and peeled and it felt like he was being melted from the inside.

"You cant kill me. Not without your wand." Toffee stated as he felt his body tear itself apart. "I am immortal, nothing you can do will kill me. I will simply regenerate."

The air around moon and Toffee crackled with magical energy and Moons flesh was glowing a bright blue as more and more magic entered her enemies body. "Still so full of pride." Moon stated as she felt her magical energy reaching its peak. "Allow me to remind you of your mortality."

Toffees flesh came apart and time seemed to cease as the two of them were engulfed by magical energy.

* * *

The Night King and River Butterfly continued to exchange blows as their soldiers fought each other around them. The soldiers which had numbered two dozen on either side were now down to roughly a half dozen on each side after so much fighting. Their comrades lying either dead or beaten and unable to fight.

Rivers left arm was completely frozen in ice and he was swinging his large warhammer with only his right arm. The Night King had use of both his arms but his armor was dented where River had delivered several fierce blows.

River and the Night King were about to charge one another but before they could come to blows a purple tentacle grabbed River from behind and flung the Mewman King to the other side of the room where he crashed into the wall and fell to the ground.

Oculus used its numerous tentacles to grab all the other knights and flung them alongside their King. Once they were all in one area he began charging energy into his eye.

" **Distegratio-"** He was cut off by a powerful blow to his eye as the Night King slammed his staff into the undefended eyes of the Void creature. Oculus turned and glared at the armored figure and was ready to attack the man until he was face to face with his staff.

"Do it and I freeze those eyes of yours, pluck them out and shatter them like glass marbles." The Night King threatened. "That was not your fight to interfere with. A battle between Kings would have proven who was the better man, you robbed me of that."

Oculus backed off but the Night King could sense the hatred emanating from the Void Beast. He turned to River and his fellow knights who were beginning to pick themselves up. He aimed his staff at them and summoned forth its power. "Ice Prison." He stated as magical energy left the staff and surrounded River and his men with a cage made of Ice.

River picked himself up and used his good arm to swing his hammer at the cage that imprisoned him but the Ice was stronger then steel and didn't bend an inch.

"We will finish our fight another day." The Night King put forth as he looked at River. "We will discover who the better man is and there will be no interruptions from outside parties." He sent a pointed glare towards Oculus.

"I don't care about who the better man is!" River yelled as he smashed his hammer against the ice that imprisoned him, the sounds of metal resounding against the ice filled the room. "My only child is in this school and if you think I'm going to sit by as you take her then you are mistaken. Ill take on all of you myself before I let you near my daughter."

The Night King turned to Oculus. "Make yourself useful and find Star Butterfly's location." The Voidborn obeyed and its eyes glowed as it scanned the walls of the school, seeing past them in search of Star. The Night King turned back to River. "I understand how you feel. I have three children of my own, as a fellow father I feel your pain. However the only way my children and my people will have a future is if your daughter is delivered to the Immortal One. As a King I face many decisions and must make sacrifices. If I have to sacrifice an innocent Mewman girl to save my people...so be it..."

" **Found her."** Oculus stated as it began floating towards one of the schools hallways.

"You two gather our wounded and dead and head back to our dimension." He ordered two to two of his followers. "Everyone else follow the Voidborn." The Night King ordered as his few remaining men followed after the Voidborn. The Night King turned to River, golden eyes peeking from behind his black helm.

"I hope that your daughter doesn't have to be harmed in order for the Immortal One to succeed." He turned and followed after his forces leaving River alone to struggle against the bars of his prison in vain.

* * *

Glossaryck stood floating in the largest of the schools towers, he was in his usual meditative stance with his legs crossed and hands held in a meditative pose. Yet he was anything but relaxed.

"So many terrible futures...even if you avoid one there's always another waiting..." He muttered to himself as he peered beyond the veil of time and gazed at all the possible futures that awaited Star. They were all terrible. He remembered when she was first born, he had never seen a happier girl, he foresaw a promising future for her and yet now all he saw was darkness.

His powers had never been perfect. Several Queens had tried to use his powers of clairvoyance to enhance their ability to rule. They all ended up doomed because of it. One had seen many alternate futures and timelines where those closest to her betrayed her. She had executed so many people that she ruled an empty palace until the day her own daughter had ended her. Another had focused so much on the future she had ignored the present and didn't see the assassin coming. His powers were a double edged sword and he knew they weren't perfect. Yet they were all he had as he tried to avert disaster.

"I'm getting too old for this..." He muttered as he continued his gazing into the future. He had always been old yet tonight he felt old. Usually he simply nudged fate in the right direction, sometimes he shoved. However tonight would require him to shove with all his might. He tried to avoid getting too involved with his students lives, over the millennia he learned it wise to not get too attached to any member of the royal family. The hard truth was that he was there when Star was born and he would be there the day she died, just as he had been for every single one of her ancestors. He saw them draw their first breaths and he would be there when they breathed their last. He could still remember their last words to him.

Solaria

 _I brought the sword...nothing more. I've failed Glossaryck…all I brought to this world was death..._

Celena

 _I wasted my life hiding from the world and believing in the value of things over people...now I die alone with more regrets then I can count._

Eclipsa

 _All I wanted was a world where I could have loved him without being called a traitor...now I die by the hands of my own children. In the end as the darkness takes me, I am nothing._

Glossaryck shook those memories from his head. "Oh boy...keep it together. You're a magical being who teaches people magic. You owe allegiance to no one..." He muttered to himself. He tried to be indifferent but when you serve one family for so long you cant help but grow accustomed to them. "Star has the book right now so I must do what is best for her."

He gazed at numerous futures, there were so many bad ones. There was only one possible future where Star would be safe and possibly happy and that future was only made possible by the appearance of Marco Diaz. He could sense the power that had sent the boy to this dimension, old magic clung to those who were touched by it. However he didn't exactly trust a random boy with the fate of a crown princess but he had no other choice.

Glossaryck let out a tired sigh, he knew what he had to do.

"There is no other way...every alternative is worse." He muttered as he steeled himself for what he must do. "Sometimes terrible choices are all that remain."

* * *

Grunt and Etheria were both charging through the entrance to the school with their families and soldiers around them. A dozen Titan Knights were clearing a path through what little remained of the monsters. Most had fled through portals after the Voidborn had been killed while others chose to fight to the bitter end. Some of their forces had been tempted to follow their enemy through the portals but Grunt had forbidden it since their main priority was rescuing Star.

"Out of the way!" A Titan Knight called out as the giant swung a giant metal mace through a group of monsters which sent the creatures flying. Several other Knights followed his example and soon the courtyard was clear of any resistance.

Any celebration was cut short by an enormous explosion that shook the very ground beneath their feet. A large section of the school was engulfed in white light and chunks of rock and other debris began raining down from the sky. Etheria and Other members of the Butterfly family used their magic to stop the debris midair to keep them from falling to the ground and crushing them and their soldiers before levitating the debris safely down to the ground.

"I would recognize that magic anywhere. It was Moon." Etheria stated as she used her wings to propel herself towards the place of the explosion. Etheria landed at the epicenter of the explosion and saw the form of Moon Butterfly, she was caked in dirt and her side was bleeding. Etheria flew straight to her and summoned healing magic into her hands and held it to Moon's side. "Moon are you conscious?" Etheria asked as she tried to get the Queen to stir.

Moons eyes opened and she let out a pained groan. Her blue eyes fell upon the small form of her aunt as the woman continued healing her wounds. "Aunt Etheria?" Moon croaked as she felt her dry throat crack as pain went through her. Every inch of her body felt like it was on fire.

"Its me Moon, what happened?"

Moon eyes grew wide and she sat herself up and looked around. "Where is he?" She tried to get up but the second she made it to her feet she took one step and immediately fell once more only to be caught by Grunt Johansen who came had arrived with the rest of the Johansen and Butterfly family.

"Easy there. Just take it slow." Grunt ordered as he helped the Queen to0 her feet.

Moon Ignored him and looked around for any sign of her enemy. Her eyes landed on a severed arm that glowed blue and seemed to be slowly disintegrating as it laid among a large amount of stone rubble. There was a trail of blood leading away from the arm.

"Hes gone..." Moon muttered as she looked at the blood trail as it led away from the debris. "We have to find him before he reaches Star." Moon stated as she tried once more to walk only to almost fall again and lost consciousness. Etheria called for several healers to come over and take over healing Moon. A few minutes later the queen was resting on a stretcher as several healers attended her.

Etheria pulled out a pair of dimensional scissors and opened up a portal back to Mewni. "Take her home and make sure she gets rest. We will take over from here." Etheria ordered. The healers picked up the stretcher and took Moon through the portal and Etheria closed it. She turned to Grunt who had gathered both of their families as well as a contingent of knights together.

"We need to find Star. Lets clear out this school of any remaining monsters and get the princess out of here."

* * *

Toffee walked along one of the schools many hallways. He was using his left arm to support himself as he struggled down the hall, leaving a trail of blood inn his wake.

"Heal damn you!" Toffee yelled as his right arm refused to regenerate. "She cant have destroyed it. She sealed away my finger into the wand, she couldn't have sealed my arm away without the wand."

He fell to his knees and let out a frustrated growl. "I will not be stopped. You might have delayed my plans but soon a darkness will come...I will rule Mewni or see it burnt to ashes around me." He heard the sounds of approaching footsteps and cursed his luck for what felt like the hundredth time that night. He pulled out a pair of dimensional scissors and opened up a portal and jumped through it.

* * *

Marco ran through the schools Hall where he had seen Star walk off. It didn't take long until he found Star. She was standing in the midst of a slaughter. He saw the bodies of guards and had to ignore the brutality of it all and focus on the girl in front of him.

"Are you okay?' Marco asked as he ran up to Star. The Princess was looking at the ground and she only raised her head when Marco came right up in front of her. Her eyes were red but they lacked the intensity and rage that he had seen in them earlier in the night.

" **Its done."** She said as she gazed into Marco's brown eyes. **"The person who did all of this has been punished."**

 _Being eaten alive is quite the punishment._

"Good..."Marco said unable to find a better thing to say. He held out the dimensional scissors to Star. "You ready to go home?"

" **Home?"** Star asked unsure of how to respond. **"Where the fuck is that? My parents sent me here to begin with, I have no home or family to go back to."**

 _Don't say that._

"Did they know about this place?" Marco asked. "Did they know about what went on here?"

" **Does it matter if they did?"** Star demanded, anger and fury rising up within her. **"They wanted to change me. They didn't care about what I wanted, all they cared about was having a perfect princess** **who would curtsy and do as shes told like a fucking zombie** **.** **I don't have anywhere to go."**

An awkward silence filled the air for several seconds until Marco finally broke it.

"You could come with me to my dimension." He offered in an attempt to help the girl in front of him. "My house has a spare bedroom..."

That surprised Star and her face showed it. **"You would...let me live with you?"** She asked not believing her ears. **"After everything you've seen and the hell** **I've** **put you through.** **You've** **seen what a mess I am..."**

"My parents take in exchange students all the time, and when I was younger we even took in some foster kids." Marco soothed in an attempt to make the girl feel better. "You're my friend so I'm sure they would welcome you with open arms."

" **I'm your friend? You would want both of us to be your friend?"**

 _Truly he has a kind heart to look past our...difficulties…._

Marco rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "Sure you are...if you want me as a friend that is." He offered as he kicked the ground awkwardly. "Ill admit this is probably the most unorthodox beginning to a friendship, but you're pretty cool and I think hanging out with you would be cooler. Janna is always complaining that shes the only girl in my group of friends..."

" **I would like that."**

 _I would like that as well but we have a duty to our family and people. We must return to Mewni._

 _ **Never**_

Star grabbed the scissors from Marco and prepared to open a portal. **"Earth dimension right? This should be as easy as ARRGGHH!"** Star screamed as she clutched her head. Her red hair turned blond and her eyes blue.

"I'm sorry Marco. Your offer is kind but we must return to Mewni and AGGHGHG!' She screamed and her hair turned red once more along with her eyes.

" **NEVER! WE WILL NOT RETURN TO THAT HELL!"**

Marco could only watch as Star clutched her head, her hair and eyes changing back and forth as she fought against herself. She attempted to open up portals with her scissors but due to her inner conflict she was slashing wildly at the air and the portals were chaotic and didn't seem to lead anywhere nice. One of them even had a large tentacle coming out of it as it grasped for the air.

" **Earth!"**

"Mewni!"

" **Earth!"**

"Mewni!"

" **I saw we go to Ear** Mewni!" She yelled as she opened a portal that glowed blue but seemed very unstable.

"Star please stop you're going to hurt yourself...yourselves..." Marco pleaded as he tried to calm the girl down.

The chaos ended when Glossaryck appeared from seemingly out of nowhere and hovered in front of Star. Before the girl could say anything he waved his hand in front of her face. "Sleep my broken student." He soothed and sure enough the girl fell asleep. Glossaryck looked down at the sleeping girl and her red hair. "Oh Star...forgive me for what I must do."

"What have you done to her?!" Marco demanded as he took several threatening strides towards the little blue man. "If you hurt her..."

"Shes fine. She will wake up in a minute or two." Glossaryck said as he gazed at the boy. "So you're the one...you will save her."

That statement confused Marco and his confusion was evident on his face. "Save her from what? All we need to do is open a portal and get out of here."

Glossaryck looked at the boy in front of him, his face sad and regretful. "I know you want to see your friends and family...but sometimes we have to make sacrifices. You must save her from her greatest enemy which right now is herself."

Before Marco could respond Glossaryck used a levitation spell to lift him up off the ground. He did the same for Star's unconscious form.

"I'm sorry Marco. You're old life will have to wait. I do all of this for the greater good." He threw Marco and Star through the last portal she had created. He waved his hand and all the portals disappeared from the room.

"Sometimes terrible choices are all that remain." he said echoing his words from earlier.

The sounds of footsteps were heard behind him and he turned and saw the Night King, Oculus and a few of the Night Kings armored soldiers. The Night King pointed his staff at Glossaryck.

"We have come for her, where is she old man?"

"She is gone." Glossaryck stated as he gazed at his adversaries. "You have lost this battle."

" **Star Butterfly is no longer in this dimension."** Oculus stated matter-of-factually as it gazed around the room analyzing it for more information. **"Multiple portals were opened in here recently. Star could be anywhere.**

"Where have you sent her?' The Night King demanded as raised his staff and his soldiers prepared for battle. Oculus began charging up its attack as they prepared to attack Glossaryck.

"That wont do you any good." Glossaryck replied lazily. "I could take you all out in a heartbeat. Even if you managed to somehow beat me the Mewni army is coming right now, just listen and you will hear them.

Sure enough the sound of armored footsteps and shouting filled the room as the sounds of Mewman soldiers were heard from all directions.

The Night King cursed and channeled energy into hi staff to open up a portal which his men and Oculus went through immediately. The Night King gave one last glance towards Glossaryck. "This isn't over." He stated before he went through the portal. The portal disappeared from the air and Glossaryck was left alone.

"You're right, this is only the beginning."

* * *

Marco screamed as he felt himself land in water. He struggled to stay afloat and he couldn't help but scream when he realized he couldn't feel or see the bottom of the water he was in.

Ever since he saw Jaws at a young age he had been terrified of water. For the longest time he couldn't event take baths. He had come a long way since then but he still freaked out whenever he was in water that was deep enough that he couldn't feel or see the bottom.

"Oh God why?!" He screamed as tried to figure out where he was. He looked around and saw a mop of red hair slowly sinking. All the fear left him as he dived beneath the surface of the water and grabbed onto Star Butterfly. The girl was till unconscious but she was breathing, her fingers still clutched securely around her magic wand.

Marco struggled to get her secured around him while still staying afloat. He had to drop his crossbow from its holster since it weighed too much and he had to drop the sword as well. Both of his weapons sank to the murky depths below. He wrapped Stars hands around his neck and kicked his feet as heard as he could to keep both of them afloat.

He looked around to see where he was. It was dark but there was still light, the sky looked like it was either dawn or dusk, he couldn't tell which. It took awhile for his eyes to adjust but he saw a shoreline in the distance. He couldn't tell how far it was and he didn't care. He began swimming with all his might towards that shoreline.

Marco was exhausted from the nights battles and he had many cuts and bruises, but those were all forgotten as adrenaline flowed through him as he strained his muscles to get him and Star to shore. His legs were on fire from all the kicking and his arms felt like they would fall off at any second but he kept going all the whiles creaming bloody murder as fear of the deep water filled his thoughts.

"Oh God please don't let there be sharks or other sea creatures! Oh God what If there's a Reaper Leviathan in this water?!" he screamed as he redoubled his efforts. He didn't know how long it took but eventually he reached a stony shore.

He hefted Star off his back and laid her on the dry rocky ground. He was about to perform CPR when she finally opened her eyes. Red met brown as they stared into each others eyes. Star quickly got up and tried to regain her bearings, Marco had to steady her she got up on unsteady legs.

" **Where are we?"** Star asked as she looked at her new surroundings. **"We** **aren't** **at Saint Olga's anymore."**

 _Thank heavens for that._

Marco explained what had happened and how Glossaryck had put her to sleep and thrown them through a portal and how he had to swim both of them to shore.

 _He truly is a champion._

" **So now were fucking stuck here...where the fuck is here?"** Star demanded as she took in her new surroundings. They were on the stony shore of a large lake, the woods surrounding the lake seemed nice enough but Star couldn't help but shake the feeling that this place seemed familiar.

"No clue, I don't recognize any of these trees." Marco said as he looked around. "All I know is that this isn't earth,. We don't have that many celestial bodies floating around us." He pointed to the sky where two moons were visible despite the fact that dawn had arrived and the sun appeared on the horizon.

" **Oh no..."** Star muttered as she gazed at those Moons. **"You brought us back here?!"** She yelled at herself. **"Back** **to** **fucking Mewni!"**

 _We needed to come home. Now that we're back on Mewni we can resume our responsibilities as the crown princess._

"This is fine." Marco said as he tried to calm Star down. "If this is Mewni that means we are safe. This is your home dimension after all right?"

Star grabbed him by the arm and pointed out at the horizon. **"See those mountains in the distance?"** She asked as she showed him a large mountain range that was so far away Marco had to squint ton see them.

"Yeah I see them."

" **Those are the Dragon mountains. My home is on the other side of those mountains, a large realm called the heartlands."** She stated plainly. **"Right now we are in the wild lands. This is where the monsters of my dimension live, the only people who venture out here are pioneers, foragers, and monster hunters. Even then they don't come this deep into the wild lands. This wouldn't be an issue except for the fact that I cant seem to find the dimensional scissors."** She looked all over her person and couldn't find them. All she had was her wand, her wand charger, and her spell book which was shrunk down. **"** **It either got left in the other dimension or its at the bottom of that lake."**

 _We wouldn't be here if you had let me take us directly to our home._

 _ **You shut the fuck up. You have just royally screwed us.**_

"Oh no..." Marco muttered as he realized how screwed they were. He had fought monsters back and Saint Olga's and now he was in the middle of their home.

Star was about to go on a tirade but she was stopped when he gaze fell upon the sunrise in the distance. She watched as Mewni's beautiful sun rose over the waters of the lake bringing new light into the world.

Marco could only watch as Star broke down into tears, they ran down her face and caused streaks of black due to her makeup running. His own previous fears were replaced with concern for Star. "You okay Star? Its okay to be sad, I know this situation isn't ideal but we can get through this."

" **I'm** **fine Marco."** Star replied as she wiped the tears from her face. **"** **I** **just never thought I would see the sun again. Saint Olga's never had any sun, it was always dark and stormy there. Heinous said that sunlight would ruin a girls skin. I never thought I would see the sun again."**

Marco put a comforting hand on her shoulder. In the sunlight he saw how pale she was and he couldn't help but feel angry at Stars parents for sending her to such a place.

Stars red eyes met his brown ones and she couldn't help but feel like she should say something.

 _Tell him thank you. Tell him that because of him we might one day be able to act like a normal person again._

 _ **I...cant...I don't know how to say it.**_

 _Its two words. Thank you. He deserves it after all he had done for us. You claim that this is the first time that we've seen the sun. I disagree. I saw the Sun when he first appeared to us, he is a sun that shone upon us in our darkest hour. He deserves a thank you. If you cant do it then let me have control and Ill say it._

Star struggled to find the words. She turned to face Marco and tried her best to force the words out of her mouth.

" **Marco.** **.."** She began drawing the boys attention. With his warm brown eyes focused on her red ones she found it difficult to force out a sincere thank you. **"I..."**

 _Come on! You can do this._

" **You are an amazing fighter, you look sexy as hell in a dress, and you got a sweet ass!"**

 _What the hell was that?_

 _ **I tried…**_

Marco's eyes widened a bit at her proclamation. Star wanted to crawl inside herself and die, her cheeks were flushed and if it were possible to die of embarrassment she would be dead a hundred times over. She looked at the ground not daring to meet his gaze.

She waited for a response, she expected him to be upset or perhaps he would ignore her. What she didn't expect was for him to put a hand under her chin and lift her head up to meet his gaze. "You're welcome." Marco replied happily as he gave her a warm smile.

 _Huh...close enough_

Both of them burst out laughing, Star couldn't remember the last time she laughed but it felt like all the years of anguish and torture melted away as she felt a the warmth of laughter and joy fill her body. Inside of Star her Lighter half felt all the joy her darker half felt.

It gave her hope.

The laughter died down and Marco looked once more at the Dragon mountains. "So we have to traverse miles of deadly monster infested territory to have a chance of getting to safety?"

" **Yup."**

Marco shook his head.

" This night has not gone the way I intended it to." he turned to Star. "Lets get you home."

* * *

 **Authors Note**

After a long wait I have returned...well I never really left. These chapters take forever to write and edit, I really need to get a beta reader.

25,085...that's how many words it took to write this chapter...my hands hurt…Due to the sheer length of this chapter there are bound to be grammar and spelling mistakes. I've edited it three times but its so long that its pretty much impossible that I got them all. Sorry.

Okay whew. First things first. The show keeps coming up with lore at a fast rate. Which means pretty much anything I write will be retconned shortly after. And yes I saw the Eclipsa secret in that one new episode. I've been keeping an eye on this sort of stuff.

Here's the deal...this is an AU story, its an alternate universe which means that while I will try to make stuff relate to canon I have to change things around to write the story I want to write. The fact that the series hasn't finished yet means Everything I write will most likely get retconned. Which is Why I made so many Ocs and stuff.

Some people complain I use lines of dialogue and references too much from other media. I do that a great deal because I enjoy seeing if people pick up on the references. Look this is a fanfiction, Im not exactly brimming with originality here. Im not creating high art its just something to read and have fun with. Chillax my people.

Now on to some explanations about some things in this chapter.

I didn't write too much in the battle scenes because I'm not very good at portraying combat, and this chapter was running way too long. I planned on breaking it up into two chapters but the structure of this arc didn't allow it to be broken up nicely.

The harem thing. Look romance isn't going to happen until much later and Im not going to have any OC's in the long term be a romantic interest...probably. And yes Tammy is based on Tammy by Ironghast. For those of you who don't know Tammy is a fan-creation, she is Toms twin sister. I just used her here since I needed some Princesses with names and I thought it would be fun.

Void Reaver- Based on Cho'gath from LOL. Eclipsa summoned some truly terrible creatures during her rule and I like the Idea of her using monsters from a dimension of Darkness.

Manaspawn- A reviewer put forth a monster Idea of a Magical Sithpspawn that devours magic instead of Jedi. I created the Manaspawn from that Idea. The Idea came from Azuretemplar3535.

Also just because you don't see your monster Idea appear in a chapter doesn't mean it wont ever appear. I have several Ideas posted by readers that I plan on using in the future.

The Night King- No he isnt the Night's King from Game of Thrones although I do realize the names are the same. If anything he and his followers are designed after Eredin and the Wild Hunt from the Witcher series. If you want to see the reference for his fight with River just go to youtube and look up 'Eskel vs Caranthir.'

Marco does make Dark souls references, several readers have picked up on it.

Also chapters in the future might be shorter. They wont be super short but from here the story will be a bit more relaxed and I hope to use that opportunity for character development. Also I have no idea when the next update will be, this chapter exhausted me.

The last chapter had 82 reviews, I cant possibly thank you all individually but I just want to say...THANK YOU!

Your reviews kept me going. Especially the ones that came like two months after the chapter was released, it showed you all still cared. I had so many coming in the last few weeks alone asking when the next chapter would come around that I forced myself to get this thing out ASAP.

So please read and review and I hope this was worth the wait.


	5. Consequences and Recovery

**Disclaimer- I do not own Star vs The Forces of Evil**

* * *

" **We should get moving."** Star stated as she watched the rising sun. She was standing at the edge of a stony shore next to the lake while Marco sat down on a large rock and took off his shoes to get the water out of them.

"I promise Ill get you to safety but first we need to rest." Marco replied as he took off his socks and wrung them out to get as much water out of them as possible. "I'm exhausted, I've got cuts, bruises, I'm hungry, and worst of all I have wet socks." He set his shoes and socks on a smooth rock to dry by the light of the rising sun. Thankfully the shore of the lake was covered in smooth round stones and it was easy for him to walk barefoot.

" **We should move now, not hang out around a lake."**

"Look I'm willing to traverse monster infested lands, fight crazed creatures that look like they came straight out of a Dungeons and Dragons manual, but I will not make a journey like that with wet socks." Marco put forward stubbornly. "We both need some rest."

 _He is right we need rest._

 _ **Fine, you take control for this boring stuff.**_

Stars hair turned blond and her eyes blue as her lighter half took control. Blue eyes met brown as she gazed at Marco.

"Its good to see you again." Marco said as he looked at Stars blond hair and blue eyes. "I thought Red had taken over for good."

 _ **Red?**_

"We both have things we are best at." Star replied . "She is good at fighting while I'm good at things that require a bit more patience and class."

 _ **Boring things you mean.**_

"You are right about us needing some rest." She agreed as she looked at their surroundings. "First thing we need is a fire."

It took about one hour to gather up wood for a fire. Both Star and Marco managed to get a great deal of it thanks to the heavily wooded area that surrounded the lake. Marco knew he was in another dimension due to the strangeness of the trees. There were trees as with bark as black as night known as ironbark trees due to the fact that the wood took on the property of iron and even the leaves were silver like steel and cut you terribly if you let them touch you. There were bleeding willow trees with white bark, red leaves, and their sap looked like blood when it came out.

Marco arranged some stones in a circle to make a fire pit and put the wood in the center and tried to find a way to light it.

"Let me take care of that." Star raised her wand and a small streak of fire shot out of it and ignited the wood. Soon Marco and Star were huddling around a wonderfully warm fire.

Marcos eyes drifted to Stars wand and widened in realization. "If you have a magic wand couldn't you just open up a portal to some other dimension and get us out of here?"

Star shook her head. "That type of magic is super advanced and I haven't practiced magic in two years." She pulled out the spell book. "There might be something in here about portals but its so small now that I cant read the print." She opened the book and showed it to Marco, sure enough the print was so tiny neither of them could make out any of the words and even the pictures were hard to understand.

"But I saw you do all kinds of crazy spells." Marco put forward. "I saw you summon a swarm of dog-sized rats that attacked people."

"Those are warrior spells, they don't require skill so much as they require imagination." Star explained. "My wand is full of spirits that are formless beings, sort of like wisps. They take on different forms depending on who holds the wand and the will of its user. Let me show you."

Star raised her wand and aimed it at the lake. "Narwhal Blast!" She called out as a pure white narwhal whale shot forth from the wand and landed in the lakes water. The small whale swam around for a bit before dispelling in a white puff of smoke. "And so it dispels and returns from where it came." Star said as she gestured to the wand.

Marco had to hide his disappointment. "So you cant do any sort of spells aside from warrior spells? Not even one to summon food?" He asked as he held his aching stomach, all the fighting he had done overnight had worked up an appetite.

"Umm let me try something." Star looked through her spellbook but put it away when it was obvious she couldn't read any of the small print. She decided to try using her imagination.

 _ **Its not going to work.**_

 _It will._

"Conjure Bread!" Star called out as magic erupted from her wand in a blinding flash. When the flash faded a large loaf of bread was sitting in front of Marco and Star, it was freshly baked and looked delicious.

"Wow Star that's amazing!" Marco stated as he looked at the bread. He reached for it and was going to tear off a bit to eat but before he could the loaf sprouted a mouth full of large sharp teeth. The loaf of bread jumped at Marco and bit down onto his shoulder.

"ITS TRYING TO EAT ME!" Marco screamed as he fought to get the bread off of his shoulder but it only sank its fangs deeper.

Star grabbed the carnivorous loaf of starch and managed to pull it off Marco, she promptly threw it into the lake and aimed her wand at it as the bread was somehow managing to slowly swim towards the shore.

"Duck Blast!" She called out as a flock of large ducks flew out of her wand. The ducks flew into the water and surrounded the bread and promptly began devouring it. While the summoned ducks enjoyed their meal Star was looking at Marcos latest wound.

"Are you okay? I'm so sorry I haven't done magic in two years." She said as she looked at the bite marks on the boys shoulder. "I only managed to learn a handful of spells before being imprisoned at that school."

"Its fine." Marco took off his hat, cape, and all clothes on his upper body. "I needed to treat these cuts and bruises anyway. Can you help me out with this?' He reached into his fanny pack and handed her some first aid supplies. Star accepted the supplies but was only half paying attention to Marco as he main focus was on his body.

 _ **Those abs...please let me have control...just for five minutes…**_

Star shook her darker half thoughts away and instead focused on the cuts and bruises that covered Marcos body.

 _His toned and perfect body...No! focus on the task at hand._

"Where did you get all these?" Star asked as she applied some slave to some shallow fang marks from the evil bread loaf. Her eyes were drawn to a series of small cuts and bruises that dotted his torso, far more then he could have gotten in the fights she had seen him in.

"You weren't there when it happened." Marco answered as he winced as Star applied some salve to a particularly nasty bruise.

Star didn't understand. "But we were with you the entire time. The only time we separated was when we left you to...oh..." Star muttered a sudden realization dawning on her.

 _ **When we left him alone to save the other princesses…**_

 _When YOU left him. I wanted to stay with him but you had to have your revenge._

"Yeah, after you left there was a whole horde of monsters that attacked the bunker." Marco said as he remembered the nights events. He told Star everything that happened, how the other girls had helped him hold off the monsters until the defenseless ones could escape.

"So then Tammy gave me back the scissors and I went to find you." Marco finished as Star patched up his last injury. "They were pretty cool, although Tammy was a bit...scary." He said remembering how she had turned the dead bodies of monsters and guards into her zombie minions.

"Ughh demons." Star muttered as she remembered Tammy. She had never befriended or bothered to get to know the girl in all the two years she had spent at the school. "I try not to associate with demons. I dated one before and he was a complete creep."

 _ **Not to mention clingy. Ughh I am so glad we kicked his demonic ass to the curb.**_

"You dated a demon?" Marco asked, not quite believing what he was hearing.

"I was thirteen and was going through a rebellious phase." Star replied, a flush rising onto her cheeks in embarrassment. "I did it just to spite my parents. I met him at the bounce lounge, he seemed so dangerous plus hanging out with him drove my parents crazy. We went on a few dates but he was so clingy and temperamental. He wanted to control everything I did and I realized he was no better then my parents in that regard. So I dumped him and enjoyed my freedom."

"Well most people do that sort of thing in my dimension." Marco said as he checked over his cuts and bruises to make sure they were all treated. "We all want a little bit of danger in our lives. I wanted more danger in my life so people would stop calling me the safe-kid. I threw a party and somehow along the way I ended up battling monsters and crossing into other dimensions. I guess I got what I asked for."

Stars face grew somber. "I'm sorry Marco. You got dragged into all of this because of me." Star muttered sadly. "I prayed to the universe for a champion, for someone to save me. Then you appeared and saved me from that monster but I guess I kind of ruined your life in the process."

Marco turned to Star and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Its fine Star, It was just a party. I'll admit all this stuff with magic and other dimensions is pretty crazy but I'm glad I could help you out. Although I don't know what kind Gods or magical forces would summon me of all people to help you. They must have one sick sense of humor."

"You managed to get me out of there so they must have been right about you." Star soothed as she picked herself up. "Well since summoning bread didn't work Ill just have to get us some food the old fashioned way."

Marco looked around, the wilderness looked spooky with so many dark and strange trees. He knew the basics of survival in earths wilderness but here he wouldn't know anything about what types of berries and other foods would be safe or poisonous. "Well we could forage for something to eat, there probably lots of fish in the lake but we don't have any fishing equipment."

"Don't worry about it, my dad taught me everything that we would ever need to know in order to survive out in the wilds." Star said proudly remembering her fathers camping trips in the Forest of certain death. "We learned how to survive without food, sleep, or clothes."

 _ **Yeah that no clothes thing was weird.**_

"No clothes?" Marco asked as he tried to dispel the mental images that filled his head upon hearing Stars statement.

"Yeah...my dads pretty extreme about camping. But worry not my dear champion with your strength and my knowledge we can get some delicious food in no time." Star declared as she grasped Marco by the arm and began to drag him along the lake shore. "Lets go find some food my hungry champion!"

* * *

There was chaos in Mewni's throne room.

The throne room was a large room with red marble walls, pillars that supported the roof, banners hanging from the ceiling representing each noble family and region of Mewni. At the back of the room on an elevated platform sat a two wooden thrones.

While the throne room was mainly used for simple affairs of state where various petitioners would bring forth requests or proposals to the King and Queen. Today it had another purpose. Within the giant hall numerous nobles from all over Mewni were packed together and arguing as Moon and River tried to maintain control of the chaos.

Both the King and Queen had seen better days. They had gotten little rest since the battle and were both wounded from the previous night. Rivers right arm was covered in thick bandages and he had numerous bruises adorning his body. Moon looked far worse. Her skin was pale, eyes bloodshot, and her entire right side was thickly bandaged. She also needed a cane to properly walk lest she collapse.

"We lost hundreds of men in the battle of Saint Olga's!" Grunt Johansen called out as he waved his stump around, a vicious hook attached to the end of it. "The monsters were after the crown Princess, this is clearly an act of war!"

"The Mewni/Monster accord that was ratified during the last war has been violated. War is the only answer." One of the people in the crowd stated.

Moon decided to interject. "The Mewman/Monster Accord was only ratified for the Monsters who willingly live in areas such as the Forest Of Certain death, which are protected groundlands. The Avarius family has assured me that no monsters from the forest took part in the battle at Saint Olga's. The monsters who live in the wild lands beyond the Dragon Mountains however have never signed any treaties with us."

"The Avarius family lies!"

"A monster is a monster!"

"We should have gone into the wild lands and finished them off after the last war."

"Only a fool would follow them into the wildlands! Solaria tried and was defeated!" Etheria stated. "She was the greatest warrior our people produced and even she had to return after a failed campaign."

"Your ancestors failures does not matter, my family could take the wildlands." Grunt turned to Queen Moon Butterfly who was watching the preceding s from her throne along with her husband. "Give me command of the army and Ill-"

"You'll get them killed, large amounts of troops have only ever been a death sentence in those lands." Etheria interrupted. "The wilds are too brutal and you would unite the monsters against us. With the crown Princess gone and the Butterfly family magic wand gone along with her we need all our forces at the borders."

Heartrude Butterfly stood up and cleared his throat. "While all this talk of war is fascinating we should focus on the real issue. With the Crown Princess gone missing we must make precautions." He said to the assembled nobles. "While we all loved my niece we must consider the fact that she might be gone for good or heavens forbid dead. The people will panic so we must consider having the royal succession figured out beforehand."

"You're only saying that so you can put forward that daughter of yours!" A nobleman called out from the crowd.

"She has the best claim. I am Moons brother after all." Heartrude retorted as he reached over to his young daughter and lifted her up in front of him. She was a five years old, had puffy blue hair and golden crown markings adorned her cheeks. "Cresselia Butterfly is the rightful heir should the worst have happened to Star. We must assure the people that there will always be a Butterfly to sit upon the throne."

"Perhaps its time for someone else to sit upon the throne." A black haired woman in a yellow dress stepped forward. "The Caster family has ties to the Butterfly line through Celena the Shy, my daughter Gemini Caster is older then your daughter and therefore should get claim."

"You only claim relations through Celena's brother!" Another nobleman added. "The Prosper family claims lineage with the Butterfly family through Hekatia!"

"Use her full title!" A noble demanded. "Hekatia the Necromancer was a stain on our kingdoms history who paved the way for the likes of Eclipsa!"

"Our daughter is the descendant of Polaria the Navigator!"

"Ours has blood ties to Venus the Fair!"

"We have the oldest claim with Hemera the Builder!"

Shouting filled the hall as nobles bickered with one another and it was obvious things would turn violent. Before they could turn violent River stood up from his throne.

"ENOUGH!" River yelled , his voice echoing through the hall and drowning out all other noise. "I will not have this type of bickering! It gets us nowhere, start acting like royalty and show some decorum."

"Said the King who is nothing more then some up-jumped barbarian!" A voice called out from amid the crowd.

"Who said that?!" River demanded as he looked around the thick crowd. He didn't recognize half the nobles assembled and the voice had been distant. "Say it to my face, unless you're too afraid to face your King!"

"Nobody is afraid of you old man." A man with red hair, a forked red beard dressed richly in red silk stepped forward.

"Lord Wildrew..." River growled, in his youth Lord Wildrew was the man that Moons entire family had pressured her into marrying. However Moon had chosen love and married River instead. "If you aren't afraid of me perhaps you'll agree to a duel then?"

"With your arm in shambles like that?" Lord Wildrew asked as his gaze fell upon Rivers bandaged right limb. "It would be an execution."

"I could slay you with my left hand while I took a piss with my right." River replied as he glared at his rival. "So you can either fight or shut up."

"I am a nobleman and have a right to say my piece within these halls. You had best remember that barbarian."

Grunt Johansen stalked up to Lord Wildrew before River could retort and laid a large strong hand on Wildrews shoulder forcing the smaller man to face him. "If you speak to my brother like that again Ill be the one you duel and it would take twenty of you to kill one of me." Grunt growled as he glared at the small man.

Wildrew forced Grunts hand off his shoulder and glared at the giant man. "You will not lay your hands on me you filthy barbarian bastard!" He yelled. "Why Moon Butterfly chose to marry into your wretched family will puzzle the historians for millennia to come!"

"If you insult my family again Ill have to show you true barbarism."

Wildrew drew his sword and pointed it at Grunt. "You don't intimidate me you unwashed beast, you and the rest of the savages you call a family can go back to whatever woods you live in and leave the rest of us in peace."

Grunt grabbed the sword with his good hand, the hardened steel dug into his hand but he ignored the pain. He yanked the sword and the blade snapped in half in his hand rendering the sword useless. He promptly grabbed Wildrew by his throat and threw him into the crowd of assembled nobles where he knocked over several people.

Chaos erupted in the hall as nobles fought and shouted, soon fists were flyin and swords and spells were about to be brought out. Before the fighting could get worse there was a burst of magical energy that filled the hall and everyone was soon levitating in the air, their limbs unable to move as they were held in place by magical energy.

"There will be no bloodshed in this hall!" Moon called out as her entire body glowed blue her wings were out and her six arms glowed with energy. She released her magic and reverted back to her normal form, the magic faded from the room and everyone was released from her magical grasp. "I am not dead yet, unfortunately for all of you." She sent glares to the families that had tried to put their own heirs forward. "Not to mention the fact that the successor to the Queen is decided by me bestowing the Butterfly magic wand upon my chosen successor. The Wand is lost along with my daughter so until it is found there will be no talk of anyone being named as my heir. Nor will I name anyone as my successor until I am certain of my daughters fate. She is somewhere out there in the universe and she will be found."

"The universe is a large place, how do you suggest we find her?" A noblewoman from the assembled crowd asked.

Moon sat back down on her throne wearily before responding. "I am offering one million golden suns for my daughters safe return, along with choice lands and a lordship." Moon stated drawing gasps from the crowd. She knew such prizes would make every bounty hunter and knight across the multiverse look for her daughter but she needed something else to make her own nobles want to find the girl. "Also if the person who finds and rescues my daughter happens to be a young man I will consider granting him my daughters hand in marriage when she comes of age to rule, making him King of our Kingdom."

She could see the words had an effect on those gathered. She noticed several nobles who had young sons already getting greedy looks in their eyes. _'_ _I said I would consider him not grant him her hand.'_ Moon thought to herself. While she would certainly give the person who rescued her daughter the opportunity to court her she had no intention of forcing her daughter to marry anyone, still the mere prospect of being allowed to court Mewni's future queen would encourage those with young sons to aid in the search for her daughter.

"I am also offering a five hundred thousand golden sun reward for the leader of the attack upon my daughter. Toffee of Septarsis is charged with violation of the Mewman/Monster Accord, attempted kidnapping of a member of the Royal Family, inciting open conflict with the crown, and High Treason. He is wanted dead or alive."

Moon doubted any bounty hunter could take out Toffee but she had to at least try. "That is all for this meeting. You may all leave now." Moon stated and she watched as all the nobles of Mewni began to leave the main hall. She wearily sat down on her throne and turned to River. "They can smell our weakness, without an heir our positions are at risk. They all know I cant have another child...and I'm not as young as I used to be."

"Nonsense." River responded as he put a comforting hand on his wife's shoulder. "You have kept this Kingdom from falling apart your entire life. You have won a war, kept our people fed, preventing those shortsighted nobles from tearing this kingdom apart, and you brought the most wonderful child into this world. We will find Star and restore order."

"Thank you River, I can always count on you." Moon said as she got up and used a cane to begin walking down the platform that led to her throne. "Get some rest River, I need to have a chat with some old friends."

* * *

 **"Looks like we set ourselves up pretty nicely huh champion?"** Star asked as she sat across from Marco in front of a roaring fire.

"We sure did." Marco agreed with her, the two were currently sitting in front of a cave they had found along the shores of the enormous lake they had washed up upon. They found the cave during their hunt for food and decided it would be best to make it home for the time being until they could get enough supplies and rest before striking out for the Heartlands of Mewni.

They had also found some food and useful tools. They had plenty of wood to burn, Star had come across a large turtle shell that once belonged to a Mewni lake turtle which Star transformed into a pot in order to cook their food. For the food itself Star had slain two mud-crabs that they came across along the lake shore. A Mewni Mud-crab was the size of a medium sized dog so they had enough meat to feed a small family.

Marco watched the first of the giant crabs boiling in the pot and couldn't help but feel hungry. Star had used her wands magic to carve utensils and cups from an iron bark tree so now all that was left was waiting for the crab to finish cooking.

Marco looked at wooden cup he was holding and realized they most useful tool they had was Stars wand. It would be their key to survival in this harsh wilderness.

"So...while we wait for the crab to finish cooking we should maybe get to know each other better." Marco offered awkwardly in an attempt to make conversation. "We've only known each other for maybe half a day, if we're going to be traveling together we should know each other better."

" **G** **et to know** **each other** **huh?"** Star asked as she leaned in closer to Marco. **"I can think of some things we could do to get to know** **each other** **better..."** Her hand landed on Marco's knee. **"We have five minutes before the food is ready, plenty of time to get aquanted..."**

 _Don't touch him like that._

Searing pain surged through Stars head and she had to clutch it to keep from screaming.

 _ **Stop that! I'm just trying to get to know him better.**_

 _He is trying to make conversation with you. Let me have control, its obvious you don't do well in social situations. You couldn't even say 'thank you' to him without making us both look like deranged fools._

 _ **Fine have your control.**_

"You okay?" Marco asked as he watched Star clutch her head. After a few seconds her hair changed color and he was once again looking into the blue eyes of her lighter side.

"Don't worry, we're fine. Just thought I would take the reigns for a bit, she isn't all that great at small talk." Star put forward in an attempt to ease the awkwardness in the air. "So...what would you like to know about me?"

"Anything I guess." Marco said as he thought about the question. "We've only know each other for maybe half a day. All I really know about you is the fact that you're a magical princess, you're the sole heir to the throne of Mewni, and your parents sent you to a princess reform school where you were tortured to the point where your mind split into two parts. So I guess id like to know more about you as a person. Interests, hobbies, aspirations that sort of thing."

"Oh right of course, lets see." Star rubbed her chin in thought as she thought about her interests. "I enjoy singing, dancing, and-" Stars eyes turned red. **"No we like fighting monsters, partying, and being awesome!"** They changed back to blue. "That's what you like to do." Her eyes turned red. **"I am you, we are both Star you primped up little-"**

"Foods done!" Marco called out interrupting Star argument with herself. "Lets all just relax and eat, I'm sure our moods will be much better once we eat." He used several wooden utensils to pull the large crab out of the pot and onto a large wooden platter. It was a bit of a struggle due to the creatures massive size but soon everything was in order and Marco handed Star a wooden plate with several large crab legs on it before serving himself.

"Thank you." Star said as she looked at the crab legs in front of her. She was hungry but she hesitated as she looked at the food in front of her.

 _ **Go ahead and eat.**_

 _I cant, we don't have a proper bib, or napkins to wipe our hands. A princess must use utensils for such a meal and I doubt we could make the proper ones, even with magic._

 _ **Oh for the love of...just let me have control you pampered weakling.**_

 _Just because I have manners doesn't mean I'm pampered._

Red eyes gazed at the crab legs as the two swapped control. **"Finally some real fucking food."** Star cracked the legs open with her bare hands and devoured the meat like a woman starved. Mewni Mudcrab was rich and flavorful, one didn't even need butter to eat it since the meat was naturally sweet. The shell was soft and easy to peel off so the meat was easy for Star to reach. Star finished off her food quickly, she licked her fingers clean and wiped her hands on her dress to clean them.

 _That's disgusting, show some manners._

 _ **Fuck your manners.**_

Marco was eating his food at a more relaxed pace, trying his best to ignore the girl next to him as she argued with herself. _'Keep your cool Marco, this is fine, everything is fine._ _You're_ _only trapped in a dangerous wilderness with a girl_ _whose_ _mind is shattered. This is fine..._ _this is my life now_ _'_

Star looked at Marco. **"So what are you about, whats up with your life and interests?"** Star asked as she relaxed in her seat. **"** **I'm** **only asking because my other half wont shut the fuck up until I ask."**

 _Its called making polite conversation. You should try it sometime._

Marco cleared his throat before responding. "Well I'm from earth, I live in Echo Creek California, I like hanging out with my friends, I also enjoy reading, practicing martial arts, and cooking nachos."

" **What the fucks a nacho?"**

"Its like a chip made out of corn, you smother it in cheese and other toppings." Marco answered not sure how best to describe a nacho to someone. "Ill make you some when we get to earth or Mewni or wherever it is we're going to end up."

" **The second we get to Mewni we're going to snag a pair of dimensional scissors and we're getting the fuck out of this dimension."** Star responded gruffly only to have to clutch her head as her other half took control. "No, we must stay in Mewni and resume our responsibility as the crown Princess. It is our duty."

" **Fuck Mewni, fuck our duty, and fuck you. Our mother sent us to Saint Olga's for the sake of our duty to the kingdom. Let them bicker and kill each other as they try to decide to wears the crown."**

"Without us our people will be left without a Princess."

" **Fuck our people."**

Marco interrupted their fighting "Look before you decide that we still need to get to Mewni. We still have to survive these wildlands."

"He is right. We can figure out what we're going to do once we reach Mewni."

" **Ill die before I go crawling back to our cunt mother."**

"Just relax, all….three of us should try to get along." Marco said in an attempt to stop the girl from arguing with herself.

Star stopped arguing with herself and nodded. **"True enough, should take a couple of weeks, a month at the most so long as we keep a good pace."** Star said as she gazed at the dragon mountains in the distance. **"We have to move during the day and hide at night** **since most monsters are active at night."**

"Alright sounds like a plan." Marco said as he finished off his own meal. "Lets just take stock of what we have and we can move first thing tomorrow."

It was only noon when they finished their meal so the two of them spent the rest of the day getting ready for the journey to Mewni. Marco packed everything they had scavenged into the cave they had found. It was a large roomy cave but not too large. It had one massive room and a small nook on the side where both Star and Marco decided they would sleep. Star claimed she could block the entrance with a boulder using her wand when night came.

Marcos clothes dried but it was obvious he had to make some changes to his outfit. He tucked the mask away along with his cape and hat. He felt sorry for Star since the girl didn't have a change of clothes and had to let her black dress dry naturally.

While Marco was getting ready for the journey the next day Star was by the lake shore practicing her magic. Both of her personalities were swapping control to see what spells each was capable of. Their spell library was completely random and for the most part they relied on their imagination for their spells since the spell book was too small to read. It was obvious that Stars darker half excelled at combat spells while her lighter half was far better at more practical spells such as levitating objects or changing the properties of items.

Eventually the sun began to set and both Star and Marco made their way into the cave. Star blocked the entrance with a boulder leaving both of them in darkness until she activated her wands nightlight and soon the cave was bathed in a dim light.

"Well we should get some rest." Star said as she looked around their abode for the evening. The air had grown chilly and both of them could see their breath, sadly the cave was too small and didn't have enough ventilation to allow for a fire. "I kind of wish we had a blanket."

"I got it covered." Marco said as he pulled out a space blanket he had stored in his fanny pack. "Its small and a bit uncomfortable but this blanket will help retain body heat." He handed the blanket over to Star who accepted it gratefully.

"Thank you Marco, you are a true knight." Star said as she looked at the blanket. "This is a weird blanket, is it made of metal?"

"Its made to retain body heat, its not very comfortable but its better then nothing."

Star looked at the blanket for a few seconds before pointing her wand at it. "Silken blanket Transformation!" She called out as magic engulf the blanket and turned the normal into a purple silk one.

"That's amazing Star." Marco said as he looked at the blanket cautiously, he still had memories of the loaf of bread that had tried to kill him and he could imagine Star making a man-eating blanket. After poking it a few times he was satisfied that it was safe. "If you can keep doing magic like that then this journey will be easy."

"Oh it was nothing." Star said bashfully not used to receiving praise. "Its a shame we only have one though."

"Its fine, you can use the blanket." Marco found a small space in the middle of the cave. "Ill sleep here, my clothes are warm enough."

 _ **Invite him to sleep with us, we could share body heat...among other things…**_

 _It wouldn't be appropriate!_

 _ **So you want him to sleep on the cold ground with no blanket? That's cruel, a princess should be selfless.**_

 _That's also true…_

"No you don't have to do that Marco." Star urged as she grabbed his arm and led him to the small clear area in the corner. "We can share the blanket, it wouldn't be right for you to sleep in the cold."

Marco felt a little bit of heat rise to his cheeks at the girls suggestion. "Ummm wouldn't that be inappropriate?" He asked as he thought about what she was suggesting.

"This happens quite often in the stories I've read." Star said as she remembered the fairy tales she had read as a child. "Sometimes when Knights save maidens from harm they must camp together and share a bed. The knight places his sword in between them to preserve and protect the maidens honor and ensure nothing occurs during the night."

"Okay...well I lost my sword in the lake and even if I had one I don't exactly like the idea of sleeping next to a sharp object." Marco said as he thought about how unsafe it would be to sleep with a sword.

"Well you would keep the sword in the scabbard." Star stated. "Also I wasn't saying we literally use a sword. I'm just trying to say that its appropriate for a knight and a maiden to share a bed. I trust you Marco, you have shown yourself to be as honorable as any knight in the service of Mewni and I know you would never dishonor me in such a way."

 _ **You are so formal it puts our cunt of a mother to shame.**_

"If you're cool with it I guess we can...sleep next to each other." Marco said trying to hide his blush."Yup...lets get ready for bed."

It was early but neither had slept in ages. Marco was sure that he had been awake for over twenty four hours, he had been tempted to nap earlier but he knew that they needed a normalized sleeping schedule if they were going to travel at first light and hide when night fell.

The small nook where they would sleep had a solid earthen ground, Marco laid out his cape on the ground so that Star wouldn't have to lay on the bare ground. He also offered his worn out hat which acted as a makeshift pillow for her. They both settled down next to each other and wrapped the silk blanket around themselves.

Marco did his best to stay as far away from Star as possible but this had the effect of him only being half covered by the blanket. He shivered as the cold night air seeped in through the few cracks that the boulder had failed to cover.

He felt the blanket roll over him and turned to see Stars blue eyes looking at him. "I swear Marco I think in this scenario you're the maiden and I'm the knight. You don't have to be so far away. It kind of defeats the purpose of us sleeping next to each other."

"I just want to give you enough space is all." Marco replied lamely as he wrapped the blanket around himself and enjoyed the reprieve from the cold. "I'm also used to having a bed to myself, the last time I slept next to someone it was for survival and I didn't enjoy it. It was a camping trip with my friends. A freak storm happened that destroyed most of our camping equipment and separated us from my parents. We managed to set up a tent but only had one sleeping bag which we gave to Janna. The rest of us had to huddle together in order to stay warm. Oskar wouldn't stopped teasing me and making lewd jokes, Ferguson kept farting, and Alfonzo's snoring kept me up all night. Janna just laughed the entire time and took pictures."

Star rolled her eyes "You really are a big old worrier aren't you? We aren't in a storm, all we're doing is laying next to each other."

 _ **If I had control we would be doing a lot more then just that.**_

 _That's why you don't have control right now._

"Of course I worry, its why they call me the safe-kid back on earth."

"Well just relax and try to get some sleep safe-kid. We have to travel at first light."

Nothing else was said and soon both of them fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

Moon Butterfly walked through the halls of her palace with an air of determination that made others want to get out of her way. Her wounds from her battle with Toffee still ached and she needed a cane to support herself but she still managed a queenly stride that others had to run to keep up with. Maids, squires, and numerous other servants got out of her way the second they saw her. One young servant even jumped out of a window to get out of his Queens way. Eventually she came to an area of the palace where only those of royal blood or close associates of the Butterfly family could enter.

It was a large magical study where she entertained numerous guests of great influence from among the Multiverse. Usually the room was used to entertain visiting royalty from other dimensions, today it would be the meeting room for herself and the Magic High Commission.

On the way to the study Moon had to walk through a hall with the portraits of numerous Queens who had ruled Mewni. She ignored their eyes which seemed to follow her ash she walked through the hall. The magical study was large, its walls had numerous bookcases filled with tomes of arcane wisdom, numerous magical trinkets, and various other artifacts. In the center of the room was a large table where the members of the magic High Commission were seated. She saw Rhombulus, Hekapoo, Lekmet, and Omnitraxus prime seated around the table.

"Where is he?!" Moon demanded as she walked to the table, her eyes scanning all of the seats. "Where is Glossaryck?" The little blue man had been avoiding her ever since she had returned from Saint Olga's. The little blue man knew where Star was but he was being evasive and refused to answer her questions. She had hoped the rest of the magic council would be able to help her get some answers.

"Right here."

Moon turned and saw Glossaryck floating into the room with a pudding cup in his hands. She stormed up to the little blue man and glared at him.

"Where is she?" Moon growled, barely able to contain her anger.

"Wheres who?"

Moon smacked the pudding cup out of Glossaryck's hands. "My daughter! You saw her last."

"You know there are people starving all over the Universe and here you are knocking perfectly good pudding onto the floor." Glossaryck snapped his fingers and the pudding cup reappeared in his hand. "As for your daughter she is exactly where she needs to be."

"I have no patience for this." Moon grabbed Glossaryck by the scruff of his robe. "Tell me where she is or else."

"Or else what?" Glossaryck asked, taking a surprisingly serious tone. "You have no power over me. I have existed for eons and I'm not about to be ordered around by a child such as yourself."

"Sure bring up your age." Omnitraxus stated, he couldn't be in the room personally so his image was shown in a crystal ball. "Stop being so stubborn and tell us where Star is, we all have jobs to do."

"I have to create all the dimensional scissors in the universe." Hekapoo grumbled. "I have over a hundred thousand orders to fill, even with me living in a dimension where time goes by much faster then any other dimension I still have a hard time meeting demand."

"Baahh baaahhhh." Lekmet stated.

"What Lekmet is trying to say is this could all go quickly f you stopped being your all-knowing self and told Moon what she needs to know." Rhombulus said, pointing one of his snake arms at Glossaryck.

"I was created in the first spark of magic in the entire universe." Glossaryck said as he gazed at the other occupants of the room. "When Mewman's first discovered magic I was there, my creation ushered in a new age of magic and as such I think you should all have a little faith in me."

"Didn't your creation also cause the destruction of the Mewman's Old Kingdom?" Hekapoo asked as she lazily toyed around with her dimensional scissors.

"And if you're so great why did Star even end up in a place like Saint Olga's in the first place?' Rhombulus asked, eager to point out Glossaryck's failing. "You should have been able to foresee that, you were even imprisoned in there for two years Mr. All-powerful magic guy."

"I only know what the Universe chooses to reveal to me. Also as a being of pure magic my greatest weakness is Anti-magic. So when I was imprisoned in an anti-magic containment prison I was quite powerless." Glossaryck responded. "For all my power I am still only a tool for the universe to use. We are all tools that serve it in one way or another. I brought each of you into existence by its bidding. I created Omnitraxus to give mortals the ability to understand the fragility of time, I created Hekapoo to allow mortals the ability to traverse dimensions, and I created Lekmet to explain the impermanence of existence to mortals. All of this I did at the universes urging."

"Why did you create me?" Rhombulus asked curiously.

"You were meant to be the protector and enforcer of the Magic High commission...I probably could have done better."

"Why you little..." Rhombulus got up and was about to attack Glossaryck but Moon intervened.

"Sit down before you get sent to the time-out corner again." Moon ordered, forcing Rhombulus to sit back down and grumble. She turned to Glossaryck. "I don't care about how powerful you are. My only daughter is missing and I wont rest until she is safe. I want to trust that you know whats best but I cant sit idly by while my daughter is stranded in some unknown dimension."

"I'm sorry Moon but telling you where she is will only doom her and countless others." Glossaryck answered. "I must do what is in the best interest of those who hold the spell book and right now she has the book."

"If she has the book then why aren't you with her?" Moon demanded. "Your supposed to be her glossary, guide, and mentor. Why aren't you keeping her safe?"

"My being with her would only hinder her training. I adjust my training regime for each Princess I've ever served, in this case Star requires a very hands-off approach."" Glossaryck responded as he shrugged. "At the end of the day she has all the guidance she could possibly need. Ill even show you." Glossaryck snapped his fingers and a magic portal appeared next to him.

Moon and Glossaryck left through the portal and both appeared in a familiar place. It was Saint Olga's Reform school.

"This is the room of prophecy." Glossaryck stated as he gestured to the numerous symbols that dotted the floor and ceiling. "You've seen this room before."

Moon had seen it. The first thing she had done after her brief recovery in Mewni's magical hospital was go over all the security crystal footage at the school. She had watched her daughters torture, the way the school had cleaved her mind, and she also watched her daughters attempted escape which had ended in this very room.

"This is where..."

"Yes." Glossaryck answered. "Mewman's were the first to discover magic, however long before that they created chapels like these. The oldest form of magic in this universe is prayer, beseeching the universe to aid you in your hour of need. When your people discovered magic they lost almost all interest in prayer and the higher mysteries of the universe. However prayer is still powerful, beseeching the universe and those who act on its behalf can have surprising results, as Star learned when she begged the universe for help in this very spot."

Moon had watched the footage, watched as Night Sister tortured her daughter. She also saw the apparent miracle as a strangely dressed boy appeared out of nowhere to save her daughter. The rest of the security footage had been broken up or lost but she saw her daughters eyes and hair turn red, she watched the carnage, and the personality shifts.

Moon walked over to the symbol for the Sun that was etched on the floor, the symbol where the boy had appeared from out of nowhere. It was right next to a symbol of a Star, both encircled by a Blood Moon.

"There are powers beyond me that exist in this universe." Glossaryck stated as he watched moon investigate the symbols. "We are all pawns in this game the universe plays. In your daughters most desperate hour she was sent a champion to aid her, who are we to stop him from doing his job?"

"So you would advise me to do nothing?" Moon asked angrily. "To abandon my daughter to whatever fate has in store for her?"

"No one can escape fate, something Star has learned the hard way." Glossaryck said in a somber tone. "This place took everything from her and filled her with pain and rage. The only path that resulted in her being saved was the one the universe revealed to me and its the one I set her on."

"I cant sit idly by, no matter how much you try to reassure me. I will do everything I can to find my daughter."

"As her mother you have that right." Glossaryck said. "Whats your plan?'

"I know Star left through a portal created by one of Hekapoo's dimensional scissors. I'm going to have Hekapoo check every portal that Star opened up and find out where she is. Rhombulus will scour several likely dimensions where my daughter might be. Lekmet will keep an eye open on the veil between the living and the dead, and Omnitraxus will search through time to try and find her."

"Hekapoo might have luck, Rhombulus couldn't find his way out of a corn maze with a map, Lekmet would only be able to find her if she was near-death, and the universe will never show Omnitraxus where Star is."

"I also plan to look into her champion as you keep calling him." Moon replied. "I've already sent inquiries to the numerous princesses who escaped from Saint Olga's. From the information I've gotten I know his name is Marco Diaz, and he is from the Earth dimension. Beyond that all I got was a bunch of information on how brave and dreamy he was to those girls he rescued, they wouldn't shut up about him."

"Keeping girls locked away for years without a boy in sight will cause them to see any boy as dreamy." Glossaryck replied. "Your daughter seemed quite smitten with him herself."

"If he harms her..."

"He wont." Glossaryck promised. "In fact I would be more worried about her harming him."

"Is she really that bad?" Moon asked, she had watched the security footage, read the reports of what the school did to Star. They made her want to crawl inside herself and die, knowing she had sent her daughter to such a place. She had watched Star butcher the staff of the school, and a few images she had seen of what went on in the headmistresses office would fuel her nightmares for nights to come.

"If she had returned to Mewni in that state..." Glossaryck trailed off, he turned to Moon. "She would have doomed herself and the entire kingdom."

"But to leave her fate in the hands of the universe and some stranger from Earth..."

"Sometimes all that's left are terrible choices. I did what I had to Moon and nothing will make me change my mind." Glossaryck began to float away. "Send your bounty hunters, and minions out to find her, the result will all be the same."

* * *

Toffee sat at his desk and shuffled through a stack of papers, an act that was made difficult due to his missing arm. The sleeve to his sleek black business suit was tied off where his stump was and he tried his best to ignore the pain radiating from his wound.

He had several healers look at his arm to figure out why it wasn't healing, the results were fascinating as they were infuriating. Moon had weaved her magic in such a way that made her magical energy act like a flesh eating virus. The magic was actively devouring his arm even now. The only reason he was alive was because his cells could multiply and regenerate faster then the magical virus could devour his flesh.

The magic would dissipate in time but it would be ages before his arm grew back, he took some comfort in the fact he would get his arm back. "At least it will grow back...unlike my finger." He muttered as he looked through several reports his spies had brought him on Mewni. It was mostly stuff he already knew but he liked to be thorough. He looked out the window of his office and saw a vast expanse of sky. His latest base of operations was an ancient Monster temple that he had turned into a stronghold. The only way to access it was by portal or air which meant he wouldn't have to deal with any Mewman's stumbling upon it.

He was shaken out of his thought by his intercom on his desk beeping.

 _'Mr. Toffee you have a guest waiting here to see you.'_ A female voice called form the intercom.

Toffee clicked the button next to the intercom. "Who is it Karen? I'm very busy right now."

 _'Its the Elder Daeron, you summoned him.'_

"Send him in Karen." Toffee ordered to his secretary as he got ready to receive his guest. A minute later an old reptilian man walked into the room. He had grey skin, a wrinkled face, and his hair was white.

"Elder Daeron..." Toffee muttered as he looked at the older man.

"Toffee..." The Elder responded as he gazed at suit wearing lizard. "I don't appreciate being summoned like this, having a bag thrown over your head makes it hard to breath."

"My base of operations must remain secret, I hope you can forgive me." Toffee said as he got up from his desk and removed his suit jacket and tie and neatly hung them on a nearby rack.

"I can forgive many things but I cant forgive your latest actions." Daeron stated as he gazed at the lizard before him. "Why have you summoned me? I know that you do not intend to return home to New Septarsis."

"I would sooner die then live on those Royal Groundlands." Toffee replied bitterly. "You chose to live on those reservations like pets to the Mewman's. If you had joined me we could inhabit all of the Heartlands like our people did in ancient times."

"The Heartlands belong to the Mewman's, nothing will change that." Elder Daeron replied. "Come home and live with us, we live a simple but honest life. You could become a farmer or a fisherman, find a wife, settle down."

Toffee had to resit laughing. "I'm not like the rest of you who live in this lie. I'm out in the real world building a future for all of monster-kind while you sit around scrounging off the leftovers the Mewman's have left you."

"Fighting the Mewman's is pointless, the heartlands are theirs and the world they are creating has no place for people like us. Give up that mad dream of conquering those lands and make a life for yourself in New Septarsis."

"You would sit back and wait for them to come for you?"Toffee asked. "They will not be content with the Heartlands, they will take back those small reservations that they've given you. Greed is all they know."

"Everyone is greedy, its not a trait unique to Mewman's" Daeron answered. "You yourself are greedy for power."

"I want power for the sake of building a better future for our people."

"You make so many excuses that you've begun to believe them yourself." Daeron said sadly. "I still remember a young boy who would come running to the temple crying every time he scraped his knee, a boy who would wander through the woods looking for faeries, and I remember when you brought a young Mewman girl home to show her the wonders of our ancient culture. What happened to that monster?"

"He opened his eyes." Toffee answered angrily. "He learned to endure pain, he learned that the faeries were wiped out by the Mewman's a thousand years ago, and he was betrayed by his closest friend."

"Moon never betrayed you, you pushed her away."

"She betrayed me when she refused to help me create a better world. She could have saved everyone but she was afraid of getting her hands dirty. She believed in peace but wasn't willing to fight for it."

"Fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity." Daeron answered bluntly. "Violence is a disease and you don't cure disease by spreading it to others."

"You don't cure it by dying either." Toffee answered. "Moon is a weak coward who wants to sit in her palace and bury her head in the sand."

"Moon did all she could to give us a future. She could have given us a great deal more if you hadn't gone to war with her." Daeron said. "Its a miracle that she could get her people to agree to the Mewman/Monster accord and give us lands to live on. If you had worked with her we could have gotten a lot more."

"We shouldn't have to beg for what is already rightfully ours. We should have free reign over all the Heartlands." Toffee replied. "I wasn't willing to accept charity. The lands were ours by right."

"Our right to something does not matter. When Nova the Conqueror took the heartlands from us she didn't do it because she had a right to them, she took them because she could." Daeron said. "We could go on talking circles around each other for ages. Why did you summon me here?"

"To give you a chance to join me. If you were to-"

"No." He answered before Toffee could finish.

"You believe that you're saving our people but all your doing is slowing down the dying." Toffee stated. "When Moon dies the Mewman's will take the ground from beneath your feet and you will be destroyed, your precious monster reservations are little more then small prisons to keep you in your place."

Daeron shrugged. "Whatever happens, happens. Back in the dawn of days when the sun was rising we had a marvelous civilization, it flourished and we had wonderful lives. Now the sun sinks and this is our long dwindling. The giants are almost gone, the Gryphons are down to a few hundred, the fairies left this world ages ago, and no one has seen a dragon in decades. We will most likely outlast them all but eventually our time will come. All we can do is make the most of what we have and fade in peace."

"We will not fade away." Toffee answered. "I will save our people and create a new world, I will make an eternal empire that will last forever. I will even allow the Mewman's a place within it so long as they submit."

"You will do so without your peoples aid." Daeron stated as he got up to leave. "Whatever world it is you plan on building it will come at too high a cost."

"No cost is too high." Toffee muttered as he watched Daeron leave. "I will build a new world even if I have to build it on the ashes of the old one."

* * *

Marco was standing in the center of a beautiful room, he had never seen a more ornately decorated place. It was a large hall with white marble walls, beautiful tapestries, and he saw two large thrones on a elevated platform.

"Where am I?" he asked, his words echoing through the empty room.

"Where you are meant to be."

Marco turned around and saw a hooded figure behind him. A large brown cloak of simple wool hid the figures features and body but he could make out a female shape and the voice was soft and feminine yet it had strength behind it.

"Who are you?" Marco asked as he gazed suspiciously at the hooded figure.

"I am nobody." The hooded figured answered. "I was born with nothing, not even a name. I was the first in a line of many."

"Okay..." Marco muttered as he backed away from the stranger. "Why are you here?"

"I am here because I wished to see you champion of Sun and Ash." The Stranger answered, she cocked her head as she gazed at him. Brown eyes peered from the hood and they pierced into Marco's very soul. "I am here because the sword of destiny has two edges, you are one of them and she is the other."

"Is this real or is it a dream?" Marco began pinching himself to see if it was a dream. He felt pain yet he didn't wake up."And what they hell are you talking about?"

"Just because something is a dream does that make it any less real?" She walked forward and looked him over. "I chose correctly when I sent you to her."

"Her?" Marco asked curiously, he mentally went over her words in his head several times trying to figure out what she meant. "What do you mean by sent me?"

"When I plucked you from your dimension I did so in face of...objections from other parties who claimed you were a mere teenager and of no practical use to anyone. I have learned to ignore such naysayers." She stated proudly. "Clearly your actions at Saint Olga's have vindicated my choice and have silenced those who doubted my decision."

"You're the one..." Marco muttered as it all came together. "The portal in my living room, me being sent to save Star. She thought it was the Universe or some God but it was you!"

"A God is nothing more then someone that the universe has granted a degree of power to." The figure answered. "The universe gave me the power to act in its stead and I acted by sending you to aid Star Butterfly."

"You took me away from my friends and family!" Marco lashed out intent on grabbing the woman's arm and demanding her to send him back. However she moved fast as lighting and his outstretched hand was grabbed by the wrist.

Her hands were covered in burn marks and calluses, Marco had only ever seen hands like those on his grandfather who had worked himself to the bone in his youth. Her hands were rough and strong as they held him in an iron grip.

"I do apologize for putting you in what must seem like an arbitrary imposition, you never asked for any of this." She said in a sad and soothing voice that seemed to magically make Marco calm down. "But given what you know now would you still want to be on earth? Do you regret saving Star? Would you have preferred to have stayed at your little party and left Star to her terrible fate?"

"Of course not..." Marco answered instantly without any hesitation. "I don't regret saving her and I would do so again in a heartbeat. But I miss my family and friends..."

"They will still be on earth when you return." She let go of his hand and brought her hand up under Marcos chin and cupped it gently. "But for now she needs you almost as much as you need her."

"I don't need her..."

"Yes you do." She replied in a motherly tone. "You have lived your life imprisoned within yourself. Doubt, fear, and self-hatred have engulfed you your entire life. Your lungs heave and your heart beats but you don't truly live. You are wound up so tightly that you are at risk of being undone. Star can help, help you venture deep down to places within you that you dare not go yourself and lay bare your true promise."

"My true promise..."

"You will save her soul and then she will save the soul of a kingdom." The woman stated as she laid her hands on his shoulders. "She never asked to be a leader but if she refuses her people will die. You never asked to be a champion but if you refuse she will die."

"Ill be whatever she needs me to be." Marco answered immediately surprising even himself. "But I'm just a teenager, my biggest concern a few days ago was getting a date."

The woman chuckled, a genuine heartfelt chuckle that filled the hall with warmth. "I was young once, it so many lifetimes ago but I can understand how you feel. I also understand how you must feel having this responsibility thrust upon you at such a young age. I was fourteen when I was asked to be a leader. I tried to lead them to salvation...how could I have know what would happen?" She gazed into Marcos eyes, he could see a deep sadness within her eyes. "All I wanted was to save them, but saving them brought ruin and death upon so many others."

"I don't understand, what are you saying?"

"It doesn't matter." The woman stated, ignored Marco's question and instead focused her piercing gaze on him once again. "Just remember that the right man in the wrong place can make all the difference in the world and you are most certainly the right man. Go now Marco Diaz of Earth and become what you were always meant to be."

Marco woke up surrounded by darkness. He tried to get up but found himself pinned down by something heavy. He felt his chest and found Star had buried her face into his chest, her large mop of blonde hair covering him. He felt a large wet spot on his abdomen and realized the girl was drooling.

His first instinct was to push her off and clean himself up but he stopped himself when he heard her whimper and nuzzle her face deeper into his chest.

"Please no...not Saint Olga's...no..."

Marco let out a tired sigh and ran his hand through her hair in an attempt to soothe her. It seemed to work since her breathing went back to normal and she fell into a blissful sleep. Her hair was silky smooth and Marco found himself stroking her hair to relax himself as much as it relaxed Star.

' _Was it a dream?'_ Marco asked himself as he remembered the woman. _'_ _There's no way I'm some sort of champion, I'm just me...'_

' _Just because something is a dream does that make it any less real?'_

Marco shook that thought from his head. He couldn't see Star in the darkness of the cave and if the temperature was anything to go by it was still nighttime. He let out a tired sigh and relaxed into the girls embrace even though the wet spot from her drool seemed to be getting bigger. A day ago he would have freaked out at having a girl this close to him but he now didn't care. He just wanted Star to be safe and comfortable.

"Whatever happens...I'm going to get you somewhere safe. I promise."

* * *

Dr. Bliss walked through the hall of Echo Creek High School with a careful stride full of uncertainty. She knew that it was just nerves, she was a newly licensed child psychologist on her first assignment. She was to be the new counselor for this school. It was a strange assignment but she knew it would be a good first experience, something to sharpen her teeth on.

She came up to the principals office, she found it interesting that the principals name was Skeeve's however given her surname of Bliss she decided not to judge. She opened up her makeup mirror and checked over her features to make sure her makeup was perfect, she only had one chance to make a good first impression. Her black hair was short and maintained, her makeup was perfectly applied on her pale white skin. She wasn't a vain woman but attractive looks could help a person trust you more and feel more relaxed in your presence, which in her field was important.

She was about to knock on the door but before her hand could touch the wood the door opened and she was roughly pulled in.

"Thank goodness you're here!" Skeeve's cried out as he gazed at the new Student counselor.

"Principal Skeeve's?" Dr. Bliss asked as she looked over the short man, his eyes were wide and full of fear and he seemed to be in the middle of a panic attack. "I'm Dr. Bliss the new student counselor that you requested for."

"Wonderful!" Skeeve's cried as he got on his knees in front of the young woman. "This school needs you now more then ever. Its chaos out there! The students have gone mad!"

"I didn't even see any students when I came in." Dr. Bliss had thought it was strange that there were no students in the halls but she figured they were in their respective classes. "What is going on around here?"

Skeeve's took several deep breaths and calmed himself down, but his eyes were still full of panic and fear. "Walk with me Dr. Bliss, Ill explain everything along the way." Skeeve's led her down the hall all while explaining the situation he was in.

"It was a week ago, a young student by the name of Marco Diaz threw a party and at that party he was sucked into a magic portal allegedly summoned by another one of our students a Miss Brittney Wong." Skeeve's explained as they walked down the halls. "Since then the students have been panicking claiming that Brittney is a witch or that the end of the world is coming. They're afraid that they'll be the next ones to be sucked into a magic portal."

"Magic portal?" Dr. Bliss asked not quite believing what she was hearing. "Are you sure they weren't hallucinating or something? Kids, even teenagers have very active imaginations."

"Most of the students in this school were at that party and they all report the same thing." Skeeve's answered. "You should know that these are strange times we live in. Not to long ago a strange magic woman from another dimension wrecked half of the state when she went all she-hulk on it. Then there was that alien invasion in Middleton, then there were those weird happenings in Oregon."

"Aliens I can believe which is what happened with Middleton. But no ones had proof of what truly happened in Oregon, its just a bunch of conspiracy nuts spinning a story." Dr. Bliss answered. "The townspeople and mayor claim nothing weird happened there."

"Well regardless of what you want to believe in the truth is that this town is very simple and its people superstitious." Skeeve's responded in a huff, not liking his word being doubted. "Our ancestors fought an army of highly intelligent possums to settle here, the graveyards are haunted by a clown ghost, and we have to deal with craziness on a daily basis. So this latest event of a young man being sucked into a magic portal has panicked the students. Although I would like to point out that despite the fact that the student who was sucked into the portal was of Latino descent there is no evidence that this was gang or race related."

"Okay..."

"I'm just saying it to reassure you. Everyone wants to take this to a racial place but I wont let them." Skeeve's stated. "Marco was an excellent student and did amazing work as a student counselor. He took numerous delinquents and turned them into model students. His friends have been hit the worst by his disappearance." He reached into his pocket and produced his phone. "Look at this picture of last years class photo, in the bottom right corner you will see Marco with his friends."

Dr. Bliss looked at the picture and saw a young Hispanic boy surrounded by four of his friends. "So my job is to help counsel and console his friends? That should be easy enough, they will no doubt be grieving but I've learned how to deal with this sort of thing."

"Its only been a week since Marco was taken from us via magic portal but his friends are already changing quite a bit and may be a bit harder to deal with then you think. Just look at Janna over there, shes always been a bit strange but now..." Skeeve's pointed to a row of lockers where a young girl was standing.

Janna had changed quite a deal in a week. Her once pure black hair had a large neon pink streak dyed into it. Her usual normal clothes were replaced by a black skull T-shirt and she was wearing tight black jeans. Her ears were also covered in numerous piecrings and she had her nose pierced. She was currently clutching a small book in her hand and began to recite poetry.

 _My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains_

 _My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk_

 _Or emptied some dull opiate to the drains_

 _One minute past, and Lethe-wards had sunk_

 _Tis not through envy of thy happy lot_

 _But being too happy in thine happiness_

 _That thou, light-wingèd Dryad of the trees_

 _In some melodious plot_

 _Of beechen green, and shadows numberless_

 _Singest of summer in full-throated ease._

Dr. Bliss nodded thoughtfully. "Ode to the Nightingale by John Keats. It looks to me like shes just going through a grieving period for her friend. Its normal for teens to act out in such a way by embracing the Gothic."

"Right..." Skeeve's muttered as he turned to a nearby window and pointed out of it. "There's also Oskar Greason to consider. Marco had him going to class and actually participating. But now all he does is sit out on his car in the school parking lot. He doesn't even play music anymore."

Dr. Bliss looked outside and saw a young man laying on the hood of a was playing around with his keytar as he gazed up at the sky.

Oskar tried to play a song but couldn't find it in him to try. He threw the Keytar across the parking lot where it crashed on the ground and shattered. "Whats the point?" he asked as he laid down on the hood of his car. "We were all supposed to form a band together. Janna would be drums, Ferguson bass, Alfonzo would be the rhythm guitar, and Marco would be lead guitarist while I did vocals and played the keytar. But now my dreams are gone just like Marco." Oskar felt a something nibbling his hand, he looked down and saw his pet ferret Gene holding out a meatball sub. "No Gene, you eat it. My appetite is gone just like my dream and my friend."

Dr. Bliss scribbled several notes down on her notepad as she watched the boy from the hallway window. "Okay...he will take a bit of work but I can fix this. What about Marco's other two friends?"

"That's where your job is going to be hardest, Follow me."

Principal Skeeve's led her to the cafeteria which was in absolute chaos. Cafeteria tables were overturned, food was lying all over the ground and students were crowed around Ferguson and Alfonzo as they both spoke in front of the assembled crowd.

"We must face the fact that the end times are upon us!" Ferguson stated to the assembled students. "First it was Marco but it could be anyone of us who are taken next!"

"We must act before we can fall prey to her!" Alfonzo added as he pointed to Brittney Wong who was standing in the corner of the room. "She who summoned forth the magic portal that devoured Marco!"

"For the hundredth time I didn't summon a portal!" Brittney stated angrily. "I don't know anything about magic, people who practice magic are weird!"

"Lies!" Ferguson stated. "What other explanation is there for what happened?"

"I don't know but I'm not a witch you fat loser!" Brittney screamed. "If anyone's a witch its your creepy friend Janna, we've all seen the weird occult stuff shes into."

"That's not true!" Janna yelled as she walked into the cafeteria. "I'm practicing to be a sorceress and conjurer. There's a huge difference."

The others students agreed.

"Totally."

"Yup that's true."

"Sorceress's are cool but witches aren't."

Brittney looked at all the assembled students with a look of utter disbelief. "I know this is a backwards town but come on! That's the reason you give her a pass?!"

"I've been saying this for over a week but Ill say it again. We should burn her!" Lars called out from the crowd. "I've got matches and lighter fluid, we can have this done before lunch is over. Who's with me?"

"No we should put her on trial!" A student cried out. "I read about how they tested for witches in ancient times. We should tie her to a rock and throw her in water. If she sinks shes innocent but if she floats then she must be a witch."

"That's brilliant!" Lars responded. "We can use the school swimming pool. Grab her and tie her up!"

Brittney screamed and ran down the schools halls as a mob of students chased her.

Dr. Bliss could only watch on in horror."Shouldn't you do something?" She asked as she watched the mob chase after Brittney. "They could hurt her. Maybe get the police down here as well to keep the peace."

"Nah Brittney is on the track team and a cheerleader there's no way they could catch her. Plus the school swimming pool currently drained due to maintenance. Also the police stopped taking my calls ages ago." Skeeve's responded. "So you see the problem I'm having here right? The whole school is in a state of absolute chaos. I need you to fix it."

"Aint no use, the schools done for." A voice called out. Dr. Bliss and Skeeve's turned and saw the school janitor, he was dressed in only a loincloth and was throwing books into a trashcan that had a fire going on in it. "Magic portals opening up, witches walking among us. Its the end times I say."

"Hooray!" Justin called out from somewhere in the cafeteria.

"You need to fix this." Skeeve's begged as he got on his hands and knees before the new child psychologist. "Brittney's father is going to run for mayor in the next election. He wants me to keep this all low key so that his families reputation isn't ruined. He is a rich man and he funds most of this schools special projects. I need you to fix this before its too late."

"I can counsel the students and try to get things under control. Ill start with Marco's friends since they seem to be in the worst way, Ill also have a talk with the other students to assure them that Brittney isn't a witch."

"Good, I knew I could count on you. If Mr. Wong pulls funding from the school Ill be eating out of dumpsters and doing unspeakable things to make a living. Its going to be the 1980s all over again!" Skeeve's ran a hand through what little hair he had left. "Fix this before its too late."

"What are you going to be doing?"

"I'm going to leave this school, get in my car, drive over to the local pub, have an ice cold pint and wait for all this to blow over." Skeeve's turned around and made a beeline for the door. Dr. Bliss heard him start up his car and speed off.

"I have a lot of work ahead of me."

In the distance she heard what sounded like a chainsaw starting up followed by screams. At that same moment the fire alarm went off and the sprinkler system activated, raining water down upon her.

"This isn't going to be easy..."

* * *

Toffee was finishing up some paperwork in regard to his new forces. With Star out of Saint Olga's the need for a large monster army was gone. He was downsizing his forces so that they were made up of only the finest monsters.

' _Mr. Toffee_ _there's_ _a Mr. Night King here to see you, he also has two_ _companions_ _with him.'_ A voice from his desks intercom.

Toffee was annoyed that the man was able to find his secret base. "Send him away, I am trying to downsize some assets here."

' _Um...Mr. Toffee...I'm not sure I'm adequately conveying the size of Mr. Night Kings companions...'_

"I don't care, call security and get him out of here!"

The door to his office suddenly exploded into splinters. A large figure walked through, he was so large that Toffee almost thought a giant was entering his office. He had to stand at over seven feet tall. The stranger was encased in black armor with a helmet that shrouded his entire face except for several small holes in the front meant for his seeing and breathing. He wielded a giant mace in his right hand that would take a normal man two hands to lift and in his left hand a giant tower shield made of thick metal was strapped to his arm.

The next figure to walk in was leaner and dressed in black armor but was also wearing the robes of a sorcerer over the armor. He clutched a magical staff similar to the one that he had seen the Night King wield in the battle for Saint Olga's however this one was larger and the crystal chilled the air in the entire office.

Toffee has to suppress shivering, being cold-blooded he disliked cold temperatures.

Then the Night King entered after his two companions, his armor was covered in frost and he strode into Toffees office like a man on a mission. He no longer had his staff but instead held a black sword that seemed to chill the air as ice clutched to the black metal blade. His dark gaze fell on Toffee. "Toffee of Septarsis." The Night King began, not offering Toffee the courtesy of his normal title of Immortal One. "We need to talk about the recent failure of yours in regards to the battle of Saint Olga's."

Toffee reached down to the button on his desk.

"You still there Karen?"

' _Yup.'_

"Go ahead and clear my schedule for the rest of the day. I have a feeling this meeting could run a little bit...deadly."

* * *

 **Authors note**

Okay...so we have a lot to talk about. First of all a whole lot of lore has been released with the release of "Star and Marcos guide to Mastering Every Dimension." Its a book released on amazon that gives major lore and character information that the show hasn't touched on. Some characters still dont have much information released on them All we know about Toffee is that he is something called a Septarian and his title is Toffee of Septarsis. I prefer Immortal one but whatever.

Ive been mostly reading scans online but I ordered the book today so hopefully Ill get it soon. Im actually spending money on making sure I know all the lore for this story . It has lots of nice information that will be important since I'm going to be focusing on characters a lot more. Even small details, for example. Marcos Mother works at Echo Creek Community college as a Poetry teacher, that's why shes able to write Star so many poems. Little details like that will make this much easier for me to flesh out characters.

Also for those of you who were confused by what the hell a golden sun is. Here,s a overview of Mewni currency which is based on a Song of ice and fires currency.

Golden Sun-Highest form of currency, solid gold coin.

Silver Star- Middle form of currency, solid silver.

Copper Crescent- Smallest form of currency, solid copper.

The Monster/Mewman accord is something that actually exists in the Star vs universe. That's why Ludo is allowed to have a castle so close to Mewni. So Im going on the assumption that monsters live in mewni but only on protected groundlands which are basically reservations. In my story monsters like Ludo and his family rule over these reservations but the true monsters who dont want to give up their freedom live in the wildlands beyond the edges of Mewni territory.

It was also revealed that Underneath Mewni castle is the Underworld, and above Mewni castle is the cloud Kingdom of the Ponyheads. This is interesting but also kind of stupid in my opinion. For the sake of the more realistic tone of this story Mewni will simply be Mewni and all other kingdoms have their own dimensions.

Some readers have messaged me calling me a prophet since I wrote last chapter before the season finale and my descriptions of Moons fighting style is almost exactly like the show. I honestly just made it all up and it came out almost perfect. Maybe Daron Nefcy and I share the same spirit animal or something.

As many reviews have pointed out I haven't covered Earth much. Thats because time flows the same on Earth and Mewni so when the battle for Saint Olgas was going on everyone on earth was sleeping. As you saw in the brief bit about earth in this chapter a week has passed so we will be having some timeskips going on in future chapters. Also the story will flow at a much more relaxed pace, hence why Star and Marco simply made camp and got to know each other a bit better in this chapter.

Also those Queens I mention when all the royals are arguing kind of exist. An artist by the name of jgss0109 drew tapestries for all of them. He had created an entire family tree for the Butterfly family. His art is amazing and I highly recommend you check out his deviantart.

Devil Dragon God Slayer: The reference level is over 9000!  
Me: What? 9000?!

As this reviewer pointed out I use tons of references in my writing. Love it or hate it its what I do. I will give 1000 Internets if you can guess where I took the character of Dr. Bliss from. If you had to google it that's cheating.

Also that season finale...also season 4 was greenlit so...all my stuff is going to be retconned...oh well thats the price of writing a fanfition before the series has concluded. Hopefully my spin on things will be good enough to be on par with whatever the show can throw at us.

Also I'm going to be going on a vacation to Oregon to watch my sister get married so that's over a month of me not being home. So...I don't know when Ill be able to manage the next update, hopefully this will tide you over for now.

Once again thank you all for the reviews. Please give me more since they inspire me to keep writing and reminds me I have fans. I never thought this story would go over 100 followers but we are fast approaching 400. You guys are amazing and Im glad you enjoy what Im writing.

Thank you, please follow, fave, and review if you liked it.


	6. Hopes and Regrets

**Disclaimer- I do not own Star vs the forces of evil**

* * *

"What the hell is wrong with your dimension?!" Marco yelled as he ducked to avoid being skewered by the a mosquito the size of eagle.

Star lifted her wand and zapped the massive insect with a jolt of magical electricity. **"** **J** **eez you must come from a dimension of little** **bitches.** **Its just a blood bug, you** **don't** **have them in your dimension?"**

The two of them were fighting off a swarm of bloodbug's, giant insects akin to earth mosquitoes. Their skin was red and they were massive in size. Star was blasting them with electricity from her wand while Marco was busy smacking them around with a long staff made out of Mewni ironwood.

The two of them made short work of the small swarm, Stars magic and Marcos martial prowess allowed them to easily defeat the insects.

"In my dimension they're called mosquito's and they're tiny insects." Marco said as he kicked the charred corpse of the massive mosquito to make sure it was dead. Over the last few weeks he had been subjected to the harshness of Mewni's Wildland's and he wasn't a fan of them.

Things had gotten off to a promising start, the Wildland's were beautiful, new, and exotic to his eyes. Despite their appearance he learned that beneath that beauty was an unforgiving land that only allowed the strong and cautious to survive. The insects and animals were deadly and even some of the plants were carnivorous.

Marco had always been excellent at camping, his family made several camping trips a year to various parks around the United States. He had even been an Echo Creek Possum scout and earned every merit badge in existence. All his years of experience were rendered fairly useless in the wilds of Mewni. He knew he would have been dead within the first week if it hadn't been for Stars resourcefulness and skills at surviving in the wilds.

" **I** **feel like** **the champion while** **you're** **the helpless princess."** Star grumbled as the two of them continued walking through a dense forest. Very little light got through the trees and the underbrush was thick. The air was filled with the smells of decaying vegetation. Star walked through it like she was walking through a park while Marco struggled to keep up with her.

Marco slapped away a sentient vine that tried to grab onto his arm. "I'm not exactly used to vegetation that tries to kill me. Also you said we would be in these Wildland's for a couple of weeks. I don't know what constitutes a week in this dimension but its been at least twenty days...I think. I'm not even sure how long days are on this planet."

" **We would be out of these Wildland's by now if you weren't slowing us down."** Star retorted as she trudged along through the woods. **"You're always getting sick, or resting, or finding some other way to mess up."**

Marco knew she was right to some degree. He had made many mistakes that had slowed down their progress. He had eaten some red berries early in their journey and had food poisoning for three days, essentially bringing their journey to a halt. On earth red was a color that showed that the berry was safe to eat generally speaking, on Mewni the color of safety was purple and red colored things were generally meant to be avoided.

"You slowed us down with that thunderstorm and other magical mishaps." Marco retorted not liking being blamed for everything. Early on in their journey Star had tried numerous spells out in an attempt to make their journey easier. Most had malfunctioned and creating things was out of the question since her creations often went mad and tried to kill them. Even her warrior spells malfunctioned most of the time. Her warnicorn stampede summoned a bunch of mad warnicorn's that tried to impale them, she once tried to summon a living cloud to fly them back to Mewni which would have worked if the cloud hadn't become gigantic and turned into a storm cloud that created a thunderstorm that had them hiding in a cave for several days.

" **Whatever."** Star replied as she trudged on ahead. **"** **At this pace it will be awhile until we reach Mewni."**

Marco grunted in response as he adjusted his clothes and wiped some blood off of his outfit that had gotten smeared on the leather after he killed a bloodbug. He was no longer wearing his Halloween costume but rather a brown shirt, brown leather jacket, and numerous furs woven together and brown pants she had made using her magic to manipulate some cloth and animal hide. The outfit was heavy but effective, it made him feel like he was role-playing as a starting character in a RPG who could only get fur clothing from slain bandits.

His old clothes he gave to Star. The black dress she had been wearing was impractical in the wilderness. She managed to make an outfit out of the black fabric of her dress and his Zoro costume. It was a mishmash of dark fabrics that covered her entire body and kept her warm. He was glad that she could be comfortable.

His only complaint was that he missed having the cape.

Fashion problems aside the journey had been mostly uneventful. They had only run into dumb beasts and nothing too dangerous had tried to attack them. At night they would hunker down in a cave or any other natural shelter and sleep until dawn. The dangers of the night were obvious, at night he could hear the growls of ravenous animals and numerous other sounds that chilled his blood.

Marco shook those thoughts from his head and continued on after Star, doing his best to keep up with her. Her unprincess-like half was difficult to deal with but he found himself face to face with her almost all the time. She was the only one who could survive easily in this harsh environment. The only time her prim and proper side took over was for meals, sleeping, or any other aspect of camping that required patience and social skills.

He walked with Stars darker half through the forest until eventually they left the dark woods behind and found themselves walking over rocky terrain near several large hills. In the distance running water could be heard and the sun was shining upon the two travelers.

"Its beautiful." Marco said as he stopped over several rocky outcrops. Moss was growing on the rocks and he saw several songbirds of various colors making their nests in the few tress the area had.

" **Its boring."** Star replied as she kicked at a rock across the ground. **"When we reach Mewni I can show you far more beautiful sights. There are fields of golden roses that stretch on for miles, grasses of various colors that grow among each other like a rainbow, and numerous other things I cant even begin to describe."**

"Well I think this place has a certain rugged beauty, although the way you describe Mewni makes it sound like a paradise."

" **Mewni has pleasures beyond count, tourists from other dimensions visit all the time. Not that I get to enjoy any of those pleasures. Mother wouldn't want her perfect little princess being seen enjoying herself."** Star spat on the ground upon mentioning her mother.

Whenever the topic of her family came up Star would become extremely testy and her two sides would get into an argument with each other so Marco chose to change the subject as quickly as he could.

"I cant help but notice that we haven't run into any monsters since we came here. You said these wild lands are full of them but I haven't seen any of them."

Stars red gaze fell upon him as she answered. **"** **O** **f course we** **haven't** **run into any monsters,** **I've** **been taking us on the safest path through these** **Wildlands.** **Ill admit that all the detours have made this journey longer then I** **initially** **thought but its the safest route. If you have the trained eyes you can see the signs of monsters all around us."** Star pointed to a nearby tree. On the white bark was a symbol of sharp bloody teeth painted in red. **"** **That's** **a symbol for the Bloodjaw orc clan who live in the mountains to the northeast. If you look at the ground you can see** **orc** **tracks leading that way."** She pointed to the ground where several small indents existed in the rocky soil. **"Those are about three days old, and over here you can see the tracks of a vorpal beast, and over here..."**

Star suddenly stopped and gazed at a new set of tracks with wide eyes. She ran over them with her hand and checked over them.

" **Could it be?"** She asked herself, her voice cracking.

"What is it? Some type of terrible monster?" Marco asked as he looked at the large track that looked like it had been made by an elephant with claws.

" **Its a sandwich beast!"** Star declared as she gazed at the tracks. **"We can finally eat some real food for a change."**

 _Real food_

 _ **I know, all we have to do is find it and we can eat genuine food instead of berries and meat.**_

 _Marco is going to love it, its the best sandwich across the entire universe._

"Sandwich beast?" Marco asked, confusion evident in his voice. "What the hell is a sandwich beast?"

" **Its a large monster from a far off dimension that people domesticate in order to harvest the sandwiches from inside its body."** Star explained as she looked over the tracks to see where they went. **"This one must be a wild one that escaped captivity. It'll be dangerous but I hear that free range sandwich's from one of these creatures are even more delicious then the ones raised on farms."**

"You want to risk life and limb for a sandwich?"

" **Yes."**

 _If only he knew how good of a sandwich it is._

 _ **We can let him have a bite when we get one.**_

 _A Bite? It should be split equally._

 _ **By the Gods you are a perfect little windup toy princess aren't you?**_

 _Better then being a rage filled slut._

"You okay there?'Marco asked, breaking both Stars from their argument.

" **Fine, just busy thinking about how delicious our dinner is going to be tonight."** Star answered as she followed the tracks.

Marco followed Star as she led them off their path. "Is this a good idea Star? Hunting a beast down for a sandwich seems kind of like a waste of time."

" **You wont be saying that when we actually get our hands on that sandwich. Instead of fat the creature gathers the nutrients inside of its body into the form of a sandwich, the sandwich is nutritious and has flavor that's so condensed and delicious that its considered a delicacy across numerous dimensions."**

Marco wanted to protest further but the thought of real food set his stomach to rumbling. They had eaten nothing but berries, wild fruits, and meat cooked over a fire for the last few weeks. Eating something like a sandwich was tempting.

They followed the tracks across the rocky slopes, Star moved like a cat stalking its prey while Marco followed behind her clutching his staff and gazing all around them. The trail they followed was hazardous, filled with rock covered ground and tall cliffs.

Marco couldn't help but feel amazement at the geography, it was similar to earth but also so alien. While the cliffs were a dull gray color and the only color came from trees that grew sparingly there were also amazing sites such as small islands that seemed to float in the air. When he asked Star how the islands floated she simply responded that it was magic.

After an hour of tracking the two of them came upon a small cave where the sandwich beast lived. The cave was small, no more then a small indent in a rocky cliff side, but it gave the creature shelter. Inside the cave the beast was sleeping, the only noise in the entire area was the sound of its snores.

The creature had a gray carapace and numerous holes all over its body giving it a strange appearance. Its body was built like a tank and it was easily the size of an elephant. Its two eyes were shit tight as its large mouth let out its loud snores that echoed along the cliffs.

Star wasted no time in running up to the beast with absolutely no attempt at subterfuge which horrified Marco as he trailed along after her in an attempt to be stealthy.

Star waltzed up to the beast and climbed up its massive body and began looking into the holes that dotted its body, her sights set solely on finding a delicious sandwich.

" **What the hell Star!?"** Marco whisper shouted at his companion as she nonchalantly began sticking her hands into the monsters holes.

" **Shut up and stick your hands into its holes and feel around for a sandwich."** Star ordered as she reached deeper into the creatures body.

"Your going to wake it." Marco pointed out as he checked on the sleeping monster to see if Stars rough handling of its body had woken it.

" **These things sleep like logs when they go into hibernation. I know what I'm doing here Marco. there are tons of sandwich farms on Mewni where domesticated Sandwich beasts live."**

"Well I'm not reaching my hands into what looks like a sphincter."

" **Some champion you are, cant even forage for a sandwich."**

"Its not my fault my abilities are useless in this survival scenario." Marco complained. "I'm awesome at chess, sewing, karate, and cooking. Not monster wrangling."

" **Sewing _and_ cooking? I guess my only question is, how is it that you haven't been blowjobed to death by the girls in your school?" **

Marco had to resist responding to Star comment, she always said things like that to get a rise out of him. He found it was best to ignore her darker half's japes.

Star looked like she was about to say something else but she fell into the hole on the top of the monster and found herself trapped in it. Marco immediately ran up and grabbed the princesses feet and yanked her out of her entrapment. The two of them fell to the ground with Marco landing roughly on the rocky earth while Star landed on his chest.

" **I GOT IT!"** Star exclaimed as she held up a large sandwich in her hands. **"** **We are going to feast tonight!"**

"Wonderful..." Marco muttered as he pushed Star off of his chest. "Now lets get out of here before-" Marco was cut off by the sound of a giant yawn that filled the cave. Both he and Star turned and saw the sandwich beast open its eyes.

The creature looked at the two of them curiously for several seconds before it laid its eyes on the sandwich in Stars hands. The creature began to growl as it glared at the Mewman princess in front of it.

"It wants the sandwich back." Marco said as he slowly backed up towards the cave entrance. "Just give it back and maybe it will leave us alone."

" **NEVER!"** Star screamed as she aimed her wand at the stone ceiling of the cave and unleashed a wave of red magical energy. She grabbed Marcos hand and ran out of the cave as the stones above them began to collapse.

The two of them only just managed to leave the cave before it collapsed, burying the sandwich beast alive. Marco was about to stop running but Star kept her iron grip on his hand and continued running.

" **We cant stop! A Sandwich beast that size wont be stopped by some rocks!"** She yelled as she dragged him across the rocky ground.

"if its that strong a creature then why the hell did we mess with it?!" Marco asked as he struggled to keep up pace with her.

" **You'll** **understand after you taste this sandwich!"** Star declared as she shoved the sandwich into a small bag wrapped around her torso. **"Now shut up and run!"**

The sounds of the monster breaking out of its stony prison was heard behind the two of them as they ran away from the cave. Both Marco and Star ran through the rocky ridges of the Wildland's, the sound of the sandwich beast behind them. Eventually they made it to a more heavily wooded area and tried to lose the beasts among the thick tress but the monster simply trampled the massive tress down as if they were twigs.

"Crap!" Marco yelled as he threw away his ironwood staff to allow him to run more easily. "That thing is fast for being so big! Cant you just magic it away or something?"

" **Its hide is magic resistant!"**

"And you wanted to mess with it?!"

Star and Marco ran for what seemed like an eternity until eventually they both managed to get clear of the wooded area only to find themselves on tall stony cliff overlooking a massive river. The river as deep, long, and fast flowing.

Marco was breathing heavily from running for so long but still managed to cry out in despair at their bad luck. "Oh God, this river is massive." He lamented when he saw that it was too fast and thick for them to ford. The sounds of the sandwich beast breaking through the woods could be heard and the noise was getting louder as the creature drew closer. "Can you magic us up a bridge?"

Star glared at him. **"Sure, while** **I'm** **at it Ill magic you up a magic sword and a solid gold** **Pegasus** **that will fly us to a gumdrop forest where we cant** **frolick** **along** **chocolate** **rivers and candy trees."**

"A simple no would have sufficed."

 _We wouldn't be int his situation if you weren't so headstrong._

 _ **You wanted the sandwich as much as I did so don't even start with me.**_

"We have to find a way around this river." Marco said as he looked from either side to find a way down the cliff.

" **We have to jump."** Star said as she looked down at the water. **"Its deep enough to break our fall."**

"No way, I don't do well with water. It scares me."

" **More then the monster that's going to kill us?!"**

"Well that monster is scary but deep water is even scarier. You never know what could be under you, some giant leviathan, a bunch of sharks, or an old god with giant tentacles. I dont want to be the guy that ends up swimming beneath Cthulhu."

Star heard trees snapping in half as the beast drew closer. She wanted to tear her hair out in frustration at Marcos hesitation.

 _We need to get him to safety!_

 _ **Fine, I guess Ill be the savior here.**_

Star grabbed both of Marcos shoulders. **"Well the best way to conquer a fear is to face it head on."** using all her strength she pushed him off the cliff and into the water below. Star quickly jumped in after him just as the sandwich beast broke through the tree line and stopped at the edge of the cliff. The creature let out an angry roar that sent birds flying as it watched both Marco and Star hit the water.

As Marco hit the water fear filled him, the sense of weightlessness and helplessness he felt whenever he was submerged in water made him panic. While he was a decent enough swimmer in calm water the river was strong and fast and he soon found himself sinking, the fur and leather his clothes were made out of was heavy and made it even harder to keep his head above water.

He was saved when Star grabbed Marco and dragged him on top of a large piece of driftwood that she had grabbed on to. She hefted Marco onto it and he clutched it like a safety blanket.

"Thank you!" Marco said as he clutched the driftwood. "Oh God I was so scared, I thought something was going to come up from under me and eat me."

Star dragged herself onto the wood. It was the trunk of an enormous tree that had been floating downriver, it was big enough to sit fairly comfortably and stable enough to not roll over.

Before Star could respond to Marco she heard the sound of water crashing down and noticed how fast the river was flowing.

 _That's not a good sign._

 _ **No Shit.**_

Star looked into the distance and despaired.

" **Uh oh."**

Marco let out a tired sigh.

"Don't tell me, we're about to go over a huge waterfall."

" **Yup."**

"Sharp rocks at the bottom?"

" **Most likely."**

"Bring it on." Marco replied as he relaxed and began to laugh.

Star glared at him as she tried in vain to figure about a spell that would help get them out of the situation. She tried levitation spells, warrior spells, even a spell to summon vines from her wand in an attempt to grapple onto the shoreline of the river. All her spells managed to do was summon several angry piranhas and shoot out a bunch of glitter.

 _We're going to die because you suck at spellcasting!_

 _ **Id like to see you try to do better!**_

Marcos laughter finally angered Star to her breaking point. **"Why are you laughing?!** **Y** **ou should be trying to figure out a way to get us out of this mess!"**

"I'm laughing because this is everything I ever asked for." Marco replied as he caught his breath. "I always asked the powers that be to grant my life more excitement and danger. Now I've finally gotten my wish."

Star didn't get a chance to respond because the current had brought them to the edge of the waterfall. Star screamed as they began to go over it but Marco simply gazed up at the sky.

"Whatever happens, happens." He said right before they both went over the waterfall.

* * *

Toffee opened up the drawer of his desk and pulled out a bottle of liquid and turned to the Night King. "Can I get you gentlemen anything to drink? I have the finest Mewnian swamp water."

"Our kind don't drink that filth." The Night King answered as he walked up to Toffees desk, flanked by his two companions. "You claimed that if we helped you in your little plan you would deliver the Heartlands of Mewni to us. Yet you haven't filled your end of the bargain." He took a seat in a chair on the opposite side of Toffees desk that was meant for visiting guests.

"Your loss." Toffee responded as he poured himself a glass. "As for our agreement it seems you're very confused. I claimed that I would give your your ancient homeland back as long as you delivered Star Butterfly and her magic wand to me. Yet I don't see Star anywhere." Toffee took a sip of his drink as he looked around the room. "So either you failed or you plan on pulling Star out of your ass, which if its the latter you might want to stand up."

A black gauntlet slammed onto Toffees desk, shattering his bottle of Mewnian swamp water and sending his paperwork flying all over the office. "Don't play games with me Septarian. We had an agreement."

"Our agreement as stated before was that I would deliver your lands to you in exchange for Star Butterfly and her wand." Toffee took a sip of his drink and set the glass on his desk. "I would also take a more respectful tone, even short an arm I could still cut through all of you as easily as a baker carves a cake."

The Night King narrowed his eyes at the threat but didn't do anything more then that. He knew that the Septarian across from him was dangerous even with only one arm. "We fought for you, I lost eleven men fighting for you."

"Tragic." Toffee muttered. "I lost one thousand and eighty seven members of my armed forces in the battle. Most were weaklings but it was still a significant number. So in the end I think we can agree that I lost a great deal more then you. So consider yourself lucky fallen one."

The Night King glared at him from behind his helmet. "We were the first to dwell within the Heartlands. We had a marvelous civilization while your people were still trying to invent fire."

"Well now you're just a bunch of monsters who dwell in the frozen north of the wild lands." Toffee stated. "I wonder how many more generations it will be until you fade away?"

The words cut through the Night King and he balled his gauntleted fists. "If we keep following you the heartlands will never be ours and my people will be stuck in the frozen north forever." He muttered. "You claim you can take down an entire kingdom with only a wand and a young girl, I find that hard to believe."

"The wand is merely a toy. The Mewman's have no idea what it is they posses." Toffee responded as he leaned back in his chair. "Like so many others they scratch the surface but never think to look within. With the Wand and Star Butterfly I can tear down their entire Kingdom and remake this world as it should be."

"You sound like a madman."

"Genius and madness are two sides of the same coin." Toffee responded nonchalantly. "The choice is yours, you can do what I ask and earn yourself a place in the new world that I will create or you can choose to go back to the north and allow your people to slowly wither away until nothing remains of them except legends."

"Fine, but if you betray us I will see to it that you die screaming." He promised as he rested his hand on his black sword. "Id like to see how Immortal you are if I froze your body and shattered it piece by piece until there was nothing but frozen chunks remaining."

"I think you would be surprised by the result" Toffee responded calmly. "Also your mistrust is misplaced, I am a man of my word. All I need is Star Butterfly and her wand and all that I have promised will be within my power to grant." Toffee gestured towards the door. "I have nothing else to say. Now please leave, I have many things I need to attend to. One of them being repairing that door you destroyed, don't worry about the cost the door. Its on me."

The Night king left with his two guards leaving Toffee alone in his office. The Septarian organized his paperwork and made the necessary calls to have someone repair his door and clean up his office.

Toffee opened up another bottle of Mewnian swamp water and walked out of his office and into his own quarters. His office was sleek and pristine the way a corporate office might look, utility and function were the most important things to him. He found extravagant surroundings and decorations to be a sign of vanity, the very type of vanity the Mewman's embodied. The only thing that was decorative in his large room was a painted table showing all of Mewni.

The table was immaculate and a perfect representation of Mewni, it had hills, mountains, rivers, and the names of every Mewman and monster settlement painted upon it with their various names drawn next to them. He allowed himself this one decoration since it served a vital function, it allowed him to plan out how he would change the world.

The table itself brought up painful memories. The table was a work of art so perfect it could only have been created with the aid of magic. Memories of a time when he, Moon, and even River had worked on the table and stood around it filled Toffee with equal parts rage and sadness.

"We could have built a better world..." Toffee muttered as he gazed upon the painted table. He remembered long nights where the three of them would gaze upon the table, making plans of how to better distribute the lands of Mewni, the best places for Monster resettlement, and even made models of cities they planned on building. "The three of us could have created an empire that would have been perfect and spanned eternity."

After Moon and River had abandoned him he had been forced to take actions, he started awar he had come close to winning. He remembered the final battle right in front of Mewni's capital. He remembered confronting Moon and fighting her only to be defeated when she had used a dark spell to seal away his finger.

The defeat haunted him, he had been forced to look for a new way to take over Mewni. He had traveled across all of Mewni from the frozen north to the deep southern lands. He had even taken a journey across the sea to the remnants of Mewni's old Kingdom. It was in the old Kingdom that he discovered a way to fulfill his plans, all he needed was the Butterfly family magic wand and his dreams could become a reality.

He looked over the table and saw endless potential. "With the crystal from the wand I can remake the world as I see fit." Toffee said as his eyes swept over the table. "I will give this world the God it deserves, one who is not silent to the suffering and injustice that plagues the universe."

* * *

Moon walked through the streets of New Septarsis with a dozen of her royal bodyguards and let out a tired sigh.

New Septarsis was little more then a large village near the edges of the southern marshes of Mewni. Part of her monster resettlement policies which she created early in her reign to bring Monsters back into the Heartlands were based around letting monsters settle into lands guarded by the crown instead of a local lord or lady. The problem was that most lands in Mewni were already controlled by royal families that were related to the Butterfly family. They ruled the lands and paid taxes to the crown and taking land away from them would have bred rebellion quickly. That meant she had to ask that the families to give up lands for monster resettlement and in exchange they would be given tax breaks.

Unfortunately very few Lords and ladies were willing to allow monster resettlement anywhere near them and the few that did grant lands for Moons project only gave up their claims to the worst of their holdings, the lands that were difficult to settle and build upon.

Gazing around New Septarsis Moon was impressed with what the Septarian's had managed to accomplish. Septarsis was built upon a large island at the mouth of the White Rose River where it flowed into the marshlands of southern Mewni. The result was a damp climate in where the island had raging waters and salt pans in front of it and marshlands behind it that eventually emptied out into the sea. The island itself was pleasant for its location, gnarled oaks, tall trees trees, moss covered grey stones, and steep hills with streams. The reason why it had been given up was because its climate was damp, and the marshes to the south teemed with unpleasant creatures.

Despite the difficulties of settling such a place the Septarian's had erected numerous stone houses, streets of hard packed earth, and numerous other buildings. Their unique biology made them immune to most diseases that would plague a mewman and they were strong enough to fend off even the most deadly of beasts.

Moon walked through the streets with a dozen of her knights flanking her. Numerous eyes watched them as they walked through the earthen streets which made her feel on edge. Her wounds were still healing and she should be using a cane to walk but she dare not show weakness in such a place. Some of the Septarian's glared at her and her entourage but most either fled at the sight of them or ignored them and went about their business.

She could tell her bodyguards were on edge as they traveled through the streets, the Battle of Saint Olga's had only inflamed the hatred between Monsters and Mewman's. She led her guards up a large hill to a large stone structure, its design seemed random as if numerous architects from different parts of the world had worked on it. She recognized it as the center of New Septarsis, a monster temple built in the style of the ancients. She remembered a time where Toffee explained the significance of a monster temple.

 _They are dwelling of leaders but also places of worship and healing. Their architecture is taken from each of the numerous monster races who each build a section of the temple in their own architectural style. This is meant to show that despite all the difference between all the races of this world we can come together and build something that will last._

Moon shook those memories from her head as she walk towards the temple. Three large Septarian guards awaited her at the entrance, each one clutching a large curved sword, the weapon of choice for Septarian's.

"I've come to speak to elder Daeron." Moon stated as she walked up to the three guards. She expected resistance but to her surprise they stepped aside.

"Go on in Queen Moon, Daeron has been expecting you." The lead guard said as he welcomed her into the temple.

That surprised her but she should have known better. The leader of the Septarian's had always been perceptive and wise. She walked into the temple and strode into the main hall, she had hardly taken a dozen steps inside when a familiar figure walked up to greet her.

"It is good to see you Your Grace." Daeron said as he walked up to her and bowed. "It seems as if you only grow more beautiful with every passing year, if only I could be so lucky."

"Thank you Elder, although it doesn't seem like you need my help. You haven't aged a day." That was true enough, while he still had a wrinkled face and a grey beard he still looked the same way he did when she first met him over twenty years ago.

Daeron chuckled. "Please come in Queen Moon, our hall might be rather dark and gloomy compared to your mewman castles but there is food and hospitality." He ordered several servants to bring food and refreshments for his guests.

"I appreciate the hospitality but I have urgent business I need to discuss with you. Could we go somewhere more private?"

"Of course, my servants will see to it that your bodyguards are fed. I have a solar where we can talk more privately." Daeron gestured for her to follow as he walked deeper into the temple. Moon was about to follow after him but the commander of her royal guard grabbed her by the arm.

"Take us with you my Queen, its unwise to travel alone in enemy territory."

Moon gazed at her new guard commander. The last one had perished at the battle of Saint Olga's, her new one was a young woman named Artoria Mcknight. She had the golden hair that her family was known for, blue eyes, and soft white skin. She wanted to elevate a member of her guards that had survived Saint Olga's but the Mcknight family had presented Artoria as a candidate and she had to accept out of fear of offending them.

The girl was skilled, loyal, but inexperienced. Moon shook off the girls hand. "I have known Elder Daeron since I was a child, he would never harm me. Also these lands are held by the crown and the Septarian's have been granted the right to live here. While not citizens of Mewni they are under our protection and I expect you to treat them with the same amount of respect you would bestow upon a Mewman citizen."

Artoria bowed her head. "Of course my Queen, forgive me."

"Relax and enjoy the hospitality of these people. I will be back when my business is concluded." Moon ordered as she turned and walked after Elder Daeron. After navigating several flights of stairs and traveling down several long stone halls she was brought to his solar. It was a pleasant room with a comfortable chairs, a desk , and several meditation mats. The room was illuminated by several candles, a fireplace, and a large window that let in nice breeze.

They both sat opposite each other at a small table, his servants set up a small meal before them. Moon thanked them courteously but she was anxious to get over the formalities and speak with Daeron frankly.

"I know you haven't come here to eat our Septarian Stew but please eat, you look famished and I find conversation is easier when there is food involved." Daeron urged as he ate some of his own stew.

The stew was served in a hollowed out bread loaf, it was a thick creamy mixture with lots of butter. She took a polite bite and sighed in relief at the wonderful taste. She had been so busy the last few weeks she had hardly eaten and it had taken a toll on her body.

"Its made with vegetables we grow here such as turnips, potatoes and carrots. Theirs cod from the river, and several different types of crabs we catch from the ocean. There are also some marshland clams in there as well. My granddaughter makes it special for me." Daeron said as he took another spoonful. "You have come here to discuss Toffee, am I correct?"

"Yes, that's one of the things I wanted to speak with you about." Moon replied as she set her spoon aside. "He returned, no doubt you've heard of the Battle of Saint Olga's by now."

"Word travels fast around Mewni, even on this quiet isle of ours." Daeron said as he set his own spoon aside. "I saw him, I saw what you did to his arm."

That took Moon bu surprise. "Where was he? If you could tell me where he is I can finish this."

"I was blindfolded and taken from here in the dead of the night." Daeron replied. "I know he has taken residence in an old monster temple, but there are thousands of abandoned ones around Mewni. Beyond that I know nothing of what he plans to do."

That deflated Moons hope a bit. "How is his arm?"

"Damaged but healing, It will grow back in time." Daeron answered. "Even so its amazing that you did that much damage to it. We Septarian's have powerful regenerative abilities, and Toffees was the strongest I've ever seen, some used to say it was unnaturally strong. That spell was quite the nasty piece of work to damage it so much."

"I would have done a lot worse if I had my wand." Moon replied as she stared into her stew, memories of the great war flowing through her head.

 _I call the darkness unto me_

 _From deepest depths of earth and sea_

 _To blackest night I pledge my soul_

 _And crush my heart_

 _To summon forth the deadly power_

 _To see my hated foe devoured_

"What troubles you child?" Daeron asked when he saw the troubled look on Moons face.

Moon snapped out of her memories and shook her head. "Just remembering times long past." She said as she took a few more bites from her stew.

"If you need any advice don't be afraid to ask me for it, at my age all I'm good for is dispensing wisdom and complaining about how much my joints ache. Best get that advice before I become so old that I start talking in riddles."

That made Moon smile a bit. "How old are you? You've been playing the old man card since I was just a girl but it seems to me you haven't aged a day."

"When I was young Mewni was just a small town with a well." Which made both of them chuckle. "In all seriousness though I can sense that you're troubled. If theirs anything I can do to help please feel free to ask."

"I just felt like I needed to see you again and seek out your counsel." Moon replied. "I just wanted to know...did I make the right decision?"

"The right decision?" Daeron asked curiously. "I don't know why you would ask me that."

"When I was younger everyone said you could see into the future. I asked you what type of reign I would have as Queen of Mewni. Do you remember what you said to me?"

Daeron sighed. "I said that you would take little joy in your reign, that many would hate you and you would hate yourself. But you would have the strength to persevere against all that would oppose you and protect your people."

"You were right about it all. Back when I was still a princess Toffee promised me an army. He had twenty thousand monsters that would aid me when the time came, his own personal army. On my coronation day when I declared that monsters would become official citizens of Mewni and usher in a new era of peace and enlightenment I would have enough soldiers to put down any resistance." Moon said sadly. "But I couldn't bring myself to do it. I wanted a better world but I knew that none of the royal families would back me up. The only person who was willing to give me support was River. If I walked down that path there would have been blood in the streets. I couldn't do that to my people so I chose not to go through with it. But in the end that decision led to the Great War."

"Yes it did lead to that." Daeron answered as he relaxed into his chair. "You chose to protect the Mewman way of life because you didn't want to see your people suffer."

"But they suffered anyway. Toffee viewed my actions as a betrayal and used his army to wage war upon Mewni. A war so terrible they called it the Great War." Moon replied angrily. "The Great War...there was nothing great about it. Thousands died on both sides and where did it get us? Did I really save Mewni or did I simply plant the seeds for another war that my daughter will have to face?"

"Do you know why I'm the leader of New Septarsis?" Daeron asked, breaking Moon from her thoughts.

The question caught Moon off guard but she fumbled for an answer regardless. "Well...you're extremely wise. I'm guessing your people chose you because of your wisdom."

"My wisdom didn't kick in until I became an old man, but I have been a leader for longer then you've been alive." Daeron answered as he grew contemplative. "I've been many things in my long life. I've been a warrior, a farmer, a priest, a fisherman, even an artist. But my people don't pick their leaders from the strongest, or the smartest, or even the most talented. We pick the ones willing to make the hard decisions...and live with the consequences. You have made many hard decisions Moon and you have had to live with the consequences of them, for better or for worse."

"But what if they were the wrong ones? All the choices I have made seem to have backfired, every victory turns into a defeat." Moon replied sadly. "I just...I don't know. I cant help but wonder if things wouldn't have turned out better if I had gone through with Toffees plan."

"Its natural to wonder about such things, but it does no good to think about what might have been." Daeron leaned forward. "You saved many people during the war, you know as well as I do that for all of Toffees grand ideals and motivations he is not the type of man to be trusted with great power. He proved that during the war when he slaughtered your parents and put all the citizens of the Reach to the sword."

Moon felt a stab of pain at that memory. She had only been a princess at the time so her parents still had dominion over Mewni. Toffee had led an army past the Dragon mountains and into the Reach which bordered the northern Wildlands. The Flowers family had gathered together an army and her parents had rode off to join them with an army of their own from the capitol. She had begged them to wait until the other lords and ladies had gathered their forces together before meeting Toffee in battle but her parents had been confident that they could easily defeat a rabble of monsters.

The battle became known as the Death of The Roses, so named because the entire Flowers family which used a red rose as their House Sigil had been completely wiped out along with the entire Mewman army. Toffee had burned the Reach and salted the earth afterwards as an example of what would happen if the other Lords and Ladies defied him.

"He carved a path of destruction all the way to the gates of the capital. It was the first time since Solaria's day that the capital had been threatened." Moon said bitterly. "People urged me to surrender but I felt so much hate...I hated Toffee for waging war against me, for not understanding that I couldn't have gone through with his plan, but most of all I hated him for killing my parents...I just...wish he had listened." Moon said. "That battle was the most terrible experience of my life. So many died, and I made decisions that have left their mark upon me to this day. I still remember riding out of the gates of Mewni with only a small host behind me, I didn't expect to survive but I knew if I could just kill Toffee I could have my revenge. I rode through the battle on top of my pet pig goat Lil Chauncey while River kept enemies from attacking me from behind. Mina Loveberry smashed through the enemies right flank while the citizens I had armed with my magic fought for their lives. Eventually I found him on the battlefield and..."

"Did what you had to." Daeron finished. "I wasn't there that day, I told my people that we wouldn't go to war but many young people joined up with Toffee anyway."

Moon nodded. "I defeated him...but at such a high cost. The battle became known as the Battle of the Red Field. The field was green before the battle started but by the end there was so much blood the grass looked like it was red. Broken bodies and weapons laid around me like a grotesque monument." Moon let out a sad sigh as the memories came back to her. "I remember after the battle had died down I saw Lil Chauncey had taken three arrows to his chest, If I hadn't been so reckless in my need for revenge he might have lived through that battle, I cradled his head and pet him as he breathed his last breaths. A great battle is a terrible thing, but in the midst of blood and carnage there is also beauty. I will never forget the way the sun looked as it set upon that red field...twenty thousand people had died and the air was thick with moans and lamentations of those who were still dying, but above us the sky turned gold and red and orange, so beautiful it made me weep to know that so many would never gaze upon such beauty again."

Moon realized how long she had been talking and blushed. "I'm so sorry, I promise it wasn't my intention to come here and reminisce about such things."

"Its fine Moon, I understand it was an important moment in your life. The Day you ceased to be princess moon and instead became Queen Moon the Undaunted." Daeron chuckled. "Wait until you're my age, reminiscing is about all I do these days."

"Moon the Undaunted..." Moon practically spat her title out as if it were poison. "I wanted to be moon the Unifier, Moon the Peacemaker, or Moon the Wise...I never wanted my reign to begin in blood and steel."

"Do not be so hard on yourself." Daeron soothed. "You have given my people peace, and peace is a jewel that is priceless. My people can now fade away in peace."

"Fade away?" Moon asked, not believing what she was hearing. "i know things are hard but you have done well for yourselves. In a few more years I might be able to get you better land to live on. House Forrester gave up the Forest of Certain Death but I'm sure I can get them to allow monster settlement in the Ironheart Forest eventually."

Daeron shook his head. "You are kind but your efforts will be in vain. My people are many things but most prominently we are warriors, our combat prowess and regenerative abilities have made us feared throughout numerous dimensions. Young people are leaving every year. Most leave for adventure, this island is boring and they yearn to see more. They cannot travel Mewni due to the prejudice against us so they go to other dimensions. There they take up mercenary work, they make money and eventually take their families with them. I don't blame them for that, why work yourself to the bone on harsh land when you can make easy money as a bodyguard or bounty hunter?" He shook his head. "So many Septarian's have left this dimension, eventually there will be none of us left. We might live on in other dimensions but our culture and history will die here with people like me who are too stubborn to leave."

"I'm sorry, Ill keep trying to make things better but..."

Daeron laughed. "Don't worry about us Moon, we do not view these sorts of things the way you Mewman's do." He grabbed a nearby candle and held it in front of him. "You Mewman's want everything to last forever, but in the vast span of eternity our civilizations are like this candle flame." he blew out the flame. "We exist and we fade away, one year is the same as a thousand years when compared to eternity. All we can do is live in the moment and make the most of whatever time we have. Thanks to you we can live out our final days in peace...it is enough."

"Well I still don't like it." She said stubbornly. "Regardless I didn't come here to speak only of things long past or the futility of everything. I need a favor."

"If it is within my abilities I will happily aid you." Daeron stated grandly. "What would you ask of me?"

"Monster temples are usually built upon places where the veil between our world and the next is weak so that you can better commune with the Gods." Moon said, remembering what she had learned so many years ago. "I need to use whatever means you have for communicating with the Gods. My daughter was recently aided by some greater power and I need to know the truth behind what happened. I've been praying in my peoples places of worship but the Gods have been silent."

"So...you wish to use the chamber of reflection?" Daeron asked as he stroked his white beard in thought. "It is true, we build these places where the barriers between here and the beyond are weak, but Gods are finicky creatures. Some say that there are no Gods but rather evil spirits that enjoy toying with mortals."

"Regardless of the risks I need to try and commune with them." Moon insisted. "My daughter...I need to try for her sake."

"Then you best eat up." Daeron gestured to her barely touched bowl of stew. "Because you will need your strength for what will happen next."

* * *

"I can honestly say that I've never eaten snake stew." Marco muttered as he hunched over a fire and watched a the stew boil in a pot that Star had created with her magic.

The two of them were camped next to the river which branched out in two directions. The main body of the river flowed farther on to the east while a smaller branch went off sideways into a dark cave. The entrance to the cave was massive, easily over a hundred feet tall and twice that wide.

Marco gazed into that dark cave with eyes full of uncertainty. He and Star were camped just under the caves roof but still near the entrance so as to stay in the daylight. However it was growing darker and at night the beasts of the wild would show up.

As if sensing Marco's thoughts Star spoke up, her hair was once again blonde and her eyes blue. "We need to shelter in it. Its too late to find another one and this cold would kill us before any monster could find us."

Marco saw the truth in those words, it had begun to snow shortly after the two of them had managed to drag themselves ashore after falling over the waterfall. They had quickly made a fire to dry their clothes and went about finding supplies to survive the upcoming night.

"Stew should be done." Marco said as he stirred the contents. It was a brown stew made from a large river snake Star had speared earlier. The snake was well over seven feet long, they had used some of its white meat to make the stew and the rest was being dried over another fire for them to eat later.

Star grabbed several pieces of nearby wood from their firewood pile and used her magic to transform them into wooden bowls and utensils. "Some snake stew will be perfect with the sandwich." She said as she produced the sandwich she had gotten from the sandwich beast from her leather satchel.

"I cant believe after all we went through you managed to save that stupid thing." Marco grumbled as he filled each of their bowls with stew.

Star cut the sandwich in half and handed it half to Marco. "Try it and you'll understand."

Marco took his half of the sandwich and tried a bite.

It was the best sandwich he had ever tasted.

"Wow." Marco said as he swallowed his first bite. "Its the best sandwich I've ever eaten, I don't know if it was worth being chased by a monster and going over a waterfall for it but it is damn good."

Star smiled at that. "I seem to recall you laughing as we went over that waterfall." She pointed out.

"Yeah." Marco rubbed the back of his head. "I guess it seems crazy looking back on it but I guess...I just realized that all the things I have been worried about my entire life has just been….stupid."

"Stupid?"

Marco nodded. "Yeah, my entire life I've been worried about everything, always playing it safe. But after being transported to a magical princess prison to fight monsters and save the princesses there, being sent to a magical world full of beasts that want to eat my heart, and just fighting for survival everyday I guess I kind of realized that all the stuff I used to worry about were kind of...nothing. Like, was I really that worried about being popular, or confessing to the girl I like, or...any of the stuff I used to worry about back on earth? Its nothing compared to fighting monsters or just surviving out here. I realize now that I can do so much more. And I need to."

"Wow...well I'm glad this all worked out for the best. I get rescued from being tortured in a magical prison school, and you manage to have a life changing revelation." Star responded.

"It only took being sent to a fantasy world and several near death experiences for me to realize I didn't need to be the safe kid anymore."

The two of them shared a small laugh and both turned back to their sandwiches and ate their halves quickly, then it was time to eat the stew. Marco knew the stew was made from a Mewni milk snake, a pure white snake with blood as white as milk with the same consistency. The blood had formed the basis for the stew along with numerous roots and wild vegetables Star had managed to find.

Marco raised a spoonful of the stew to his mouth.

"I'm still in a dream, Snake Eater." Marco said right before he tried the soup, it was thick, creamy, and hearty. The taste was strange and he didn't care much for the vegetables but he ate it eagerly. It was the type of meal that warmed you to your core.

"Snake Eater?" Star asked as she spooned up her own stew.

Marco blushed a bit when he realized hen had said that out loud. "Sorry, just a lyric to a song I heard a long time ago."

Star giggled. "You should sing it, some dinner music would be nice."

Marco chuckled. "That song is meant to be sung with a woman's voice, besides I'm not much of a singer." He pointed out as he ate more of his stew. "Maybe you should sing for us, Its a commonly held belief that princesses are wonderful at singing. Theirs even a few fairy tales in my dimension about a princesses singing being able to enchant even animals."

"I guess I know a few songs."

 _ **No! We're not singing!**_

 _I'll do the singing, you just be silent and listen to my lovely voice._

 _ **Oh no…**_

 _Maybe we should sing a raunchy song, or a sad song, maybe a happy one to dance to._

 _ **Double oh no…**_

Star cleared her throat. "Fair warning, songs from Mewni are strange. Few things are sacred in Mewni and my people are known for their love of all things beautiful and sad."

Marco smiled. "Id love to hear a Mewni song, It might give me a better perspective on your people."

Star nodded and began to sing.

 _The Winter Maid she waltzes, ice crystals in her hair,_

 _She brings the snows wherever she goes, from storms to flurries fair._

 _The Winter Maid she dances, she travels land and sea,_

 _Once her storms have froze your keep, only she can set you free._

 _The Winter Maid she frolics, From Mewni to Shivering Sea_

 _The Winter Maid she prances, round and round she goes_

 _All around the world she dances to her shivering foes_

 _Whether by ice or famine, by her all men must fall._

 _The Maids of Spring and Autumn, they but tell what's to come._

 _The Maid of Summer appears often, but never stays for long._

 _The Winter Maid she ever waits, for all summer must end,_

 _The Winter Maid will come again, whenever summer ends_

Star finished the song and Marco gave her a round of applause.

"Wow, so who is this winter maid?" Marco asked curiously as he finished off his owl of stew.

"She was one of my ancestors." Star answered. "She was so adept at ice magic that winter followed her wherever she went so she always traveled all over Mewni so that the cold never effected one region for too long. That's how the legend goes anyway, it was a long time ago and singers and songwriters enjoy mucking up facts for the sake of better songs."

"Well that was a good song but I thought you said Mewni songs are strange. That was pretty normal."

Star rubbed the back of her head. "Well I know a few more, my father used to sing them but they made my Mom really mad. Many songs from Mewni are raunchy."

"Your Moms not here."Marco pointed out.

"A excellent point." Star cleared her throat. "My dad would sing this one often."

 _Megget was a merry maid_

 _A merry maid was she_

 _Rusty tankards raised up high_

 _As honey ale flowed free_

 _Drunken sailors blind with lust_

 _Hands down her silken frock_

 _Too piss drunk to tell a merry maid_

 _From Meggets big fat cock!_

Marco burst out laughing, interrupting Stars singing.

"I wasn't done with the song yet." Star pointed out.

"I'm sorry." Marco responded as his laughter died down. "I just wasn't expecting that last verse, from what you've told me of Mewni I didn't think they would have a song like that. I figured your society was extremely conservative."

Star smiled sadly. "Its actually quite the opposite. My people love music, drink, and all of life's pleasures. People from numerous dimensions come to ours in order to enjoy the pleasures of Mewni. I've heard that many people consider Mewman's to be rambunctious and lewd."

Marco was surprised by that statement given how conservative Stars princess half was. "That's surprising…if that's the case why are you held up to such a high standard?"

Stars hair turned crimson and her eyes blood red as she stood up from her seat on the ground angrily. **"** **B** **ecause being a princess is fucking bullshit and my people are nothing but a bunch of fucking hypocrites!"** She yelled angrily as she kicked her bowl of stew aside, spilling its contents everywhere. **"They** **don't** **want a person in charge of them but instead want some brainwashed woman who will be their perfect little leader and-"** She clutched her head as her hair turned blonde once again.

 _Please not now, don't do this now._

 _ **He deserves to know what pieces of shit our people are!**_

 _Don't say that. I'll explain everything to him, just rest for now and let me deal with the social situations._

Star turned to Marco, her eyes blue once more. "I'm sorry, she is angry and….rightfully so. It is unfair." Star sat back down with her legs crossed and looked into the fire pit where the remainder of their fire were starting to die out. "The nobility of Mewni is expected to be more conservative then its common people, even so the nobility does take part in many pastimes as commoners do. Feasts, drinking, and visiting the brothels of the kingdom are commonplace for nobles, many even bring their paramours to court and no one bats an eye. But for the Princess and Queen….things are different."

"Different?" Marco asked, not quite understanding the point she was trying to make.

"The Queen has been the foundation of Mewman society since….well since forever." She pointed out. "The Queen has to be perfect and selfless for her people, so long as the Queen is perfect then society is perfect. The Queen is immune to temptation, she is the avatar of all that is good and just...I...Its hard to put into words how important the Queen is." Stars eyes lit up with realization. "I think the best way to explain it is through song, this is a lullaby every child in Mewni is sung."

Star took a deep breath as she allowed the memories of her childhood fill her, her mother singing to her as she got ready for bed.

 _ **Please no...not this song…**_

 _He needs to hear it to understand._

Star let out a sad sigh before she began to sing.

 _The Queen's face is stern and strong,_  
 _she sits and judges right from wrong._  
 _She weighs our lives, the short and long,_  
 _and loves the little children_

 _The Queen gives the gift of life,_  
 _and watches over every life._  
 _Her gentle smile ends all strife,_  
 _and she loves her little children_

 _The Queen stands before the foe,_  
 _protecting us where e'er we go._  
 _With sword and shield and spear and bow,_  
 _she guards the little children._

 _The Queen is very wise and bold,_  
 _and sees our fates as they unfold._  
 _She lifts her wand of shining gold_  
 _to lead the little children._

 _The Queen, she labors day and night,_  
 _to put the world of men to right._  
 _With wand, and magic, and fire bright,_  
 _she builds for little children._

 _The Queen dances through the sky,_  
 _she lives in every lover's sigh._  
 _Her smiles teach the birds to fly,_  
 _and gives dreams to little children._

 _The Queens who made us all,_  
 _are listening if we should call._  
 _So close your eyes, you shall not fall,_  
 _they see you, little children._  
 _Just close your eyes, you shall not fall,_  
 _they see you, little children._

"Wow..." Marco said when the song finished. "That's a lot of stuff the Queen has to do. Makes you seem like some sort of Goddess."

Star nodded grimly. "That's partially the case. Its commonly held belief that the greatest mortals are given godhood upon death. The Queens are seen as avatars of perfection so many believe that they become Gods when they die. But we're just people like everyone else. We have great magic but aside from that I'm just…I don't know. I'm not normal, we aren't normal anymore. Not even sure If we're sane."

 _ **I'm a perfectly balanced individual, you're the strange one.**_

 _Shut up._

Silence reigned for thirty seconds, Marco wasn't sure what he could say to make Star feel better but he knew he had to try something.

"Its too bad you cant to those things like in the song."Marco said, drawing Stars attention. "This journey would be a lot easier if yours smiles could end all strife, or if you could dance through the sky."

Star lightly flung her spoon and it smacked Marco in the chest. "Very funny." She said lightly but it was obvious she was trying to hide a smile. "Its a stupid song and none of its true."

"Probably for the best. Living in every lovers sigh would be specially gross and disturbing." Marco pointed out.

That made Star laugh. "I guess it would be kind of gross." She said as she shivered from the cold, it was starting to snow heavily now, not the small flakes that had plagued them from before. "We need to pack up and get into the cave."

"Good idea, although I don't much like the idea of that cave. If a lifetime of RPG experience has taught me anything there are seldom any caves in the world that don't have monsters in them. My money is on giant spiders."

"Don't be ridiculous Marco." Star chided. "With our luck theirs probably something much worse in there, but at least it beats freezing to death."

* * *

Moon stood in front of the large stone doors of the chamber of reflection and felt fear well up in her stomach. Daeron stood next to her and lectured her on the history and use of the chamber.

"In there you will find one of the places where the veil between this world and the next lies. Some who go in claim that the Gods have spoken to them, others see visions. Some of the visions are peaceful and show wonderful futures, while others have made grown men flee from the chamber in fear. However most people see only an empty chamber." Daeron said as he gazed at the simple stone door. "If there are Gods who favor you they will make themselves known, but ones who disfavor you may also appear. Just know that you are not physically at risk, the veil is weak here but you are still tethered to our mortal place, nothing in there can physically harm you."

"i understand." Moon walked up to the door and placed a hand on it.

"I warn you Moon, some doors are best left closed." Daeron said as he gazed at her, his yellow eyes full of worry. "You don't have to do this."

"My daughter is missing and I have no other ways to find her." Moon said, sadness etched into every word she said. "If there is even a chance of finding out where she is I must take it. The Gods intervened at Saint Olga's on her behalf, they should help me here." Moon pushed through the door and entered the chamber leaving Daeron before he could respond.

The chamber was large, easily as large as her throne room back in Mewni, however the room was perfectly circular and lacked any sort of furnishing. The only thing it had were symbols etched into the stonework of the walls, ceiling, and floor. The symbols were varied and random, some were celestial symbols, some were carvings depicted acts of butchery, others acts of love. Much like the monster temple itself the room depicted every single faith that had ever existed in Mewni. In the center of the room were celestial symbols her own people worshiped. Moon walked up to the symbols of the Star and Sun, both encircled by a crescent moon.

Moon gazed at them, they were the same symbols that were carved in the chapel back at Saint Olga's. "Why did the Gods intervene?"

"Because she asked for help."

Moon turned to the source of the voice and saw a hooded figure standing between her and the door that she had used to enter the room.

The stranger was female, she was garbed in a simple brown robe that ended at her knees. Moon noted that her hands were thick with callus, her bare feet appeared to be hard as rock, and her eyes and the few stands of hair that fell from the front of her face were brown. The rest of her features were hidden by her hood.

"Are you a God?" Moon asked as she gazed at the strange individual.

"A God?" The figure asked curiously. "I suppose so, although I dislike that term. I'm just someone who lends a helping hand to those I deem require it."

"Like my daughter?' Moon asked. "My daughter still needs help, I need to know where she is. If you truly are a God who is looking out for my family then please aid me now."

"I gave all the help I was willing to give." The woman answered simply. "Your daughter is a broken thing, but when a sword is broken it can be reforged stronger then before. I gave her the means to do that. To aid her anymore would doom her, it is only through great suffering and trials that we can become stronger, to save her now is to make her weaker and rob her of the chance to gain power. Marco Diaz will see to it that she survives her trials."

"That boy?" Moon asked angrily. "That's your idea of helping?! I can help my daughter right now if you will only tell me where she is!"

"You doubt him almost as much as he doubts himself." The figure shook her head. "He is not the fastest, the strongest, or even the smartest individual I admit, but hes the only one who can save her. She is your peoples last hope for redemption."

"Redemption?" Moon asked angrily. "Stop speaking in half answers! Tell me the truth now! What the hell is going on?!"

The woman laughed. "You want truth?" She asked, shaking her head. "Be careful what you ask for. People often claim to hunger for truth but they seldom enjoy its taste. Truth is the drink everyone thirsts for but they spit it out the second it touches their lips."

"I can handle the truth."

"Can you now?' The woman walked around Moon, her brown eyes looking at Moon, judging her. "Very well, I will show a glimpse of what is to come, the fate that awaits your daughter and your kingdom."

A door appeared in the center of the room, a simple brown oaken door with a brass knob.

"Enter and see what awaits." The woman said before vanishing from thin air, leaving Moon alone in the chamber.

Moon didn't hesitate, she opened the door and stepped through it, only to find herself in the middle of a battlefield. She found herself in the middle of a field, the grass was brown, and the air was filled with the sounds of battle, steel ringing against steel and the sounds of the dying filled the air.

For a moment she thought she was a teenager again and she was back at the Battle of The Red Field, but this field was brown. She gazed around and what she saw was horrifying.

"Bring it down!" A Large armored Knight atop an armored Warnicorn called out as several foot soldiers fought with a giant. The giant was well over twenty feet tall and was keeping the foot soldiers at bay, the knight grew impatient and charged at the giant and impaled it with an eight foot war lance. In its death throes the giant collapsed forward, crushing the Knight, his Warnicorn, and several of the soldiers it had been fighting, killing them all.

All around her similar scenes were playing out as Septarian's, Beast-men, and numerous other monsters fought against a Mewman army.

A deafening roar sounded off and Moon turned and saw a Dragon flying down from the sky, it breathed fire upon the mewman battle lines, baking knights in their armor and sending men scrambling for shelter.

The dragon was easily the most beautiful creature Moon had ever seen, it was so beautiful it made her forget she was witnessing a battle. It had gold scales and bright pink wing membranes, with the sun reflecting off its scales they looked like beaten gold.

But as it flew in the sky it was struck by a bolt of red energy that went straight through its chest. Red blood and golden scales rained down from the sky and the dragon crashed into the earth next to Moon, crushing Mewmans and monster both in its fall. Moon ran over to its side and put a hand on its head, only for her hand to fade through it effortlessly.

"None of this is real." Moon realized. "Its….history." She realized where she was not, it was the final battle for Mewni, a battle known as the Battle of Fire because it was the last stand of the Dragons and monsters who inhabited the heartlands.

Moon looked up and saw the figure that had felled the dragon. She was a woman, young and beautiful. She had red hair, green eyes, and two flaming meteors adorned her cheeks. She had her wings out which were two large red wings that looked like they were made of flame and her wand was shaped like a sword.

"Meteora the Merciless." Moon said, realizing who who was looking at.

While Nova the Conqueror was credited with conquering the Heartlands, students of Mewni's history knew that it was Meteora was the one who finished the job by defeating the last of the monsters in the Heartlands and driving them into the Wildlands.

Suddenly a storm began brewing, the sky turned dark and lighting filled the air. Mewman's began panicking as monsters began cheering.

"Its the Traitor King!"

"The King of The Storm has come!"

Moon saw a large purple dragon appear from the storm clouds, its hide was coated in lightning and atop its back a dark figure stood with an enormous spear in its hands. The spears tip was crackling with golden lighting and as they drew closer both the dragon and the figure shot lighting among the Mewman ranks. Knights were electrocuted in their own armor and the rain the storm brought caused numerous men to be killed by the lighting coursing through the water on the ground.

Meteora gazed at the figure with eyes full of rage.

"Traitor!" She called out angrily as she flapped her wings, propelling herself towards the Storm Dragon and its rider. "Solarion you traitor!" They clashed and the force of their clash blinded moon, she had to shield her eyes.

When she opened her eyes again she was no longer on the battlefield but somewhere else. She stood on a dark plateau, surrounded by dead grass. The sky was dark and the only light was from a full moon.

"Its over."

Moon turned and saw several figures surrounded a woman wearing a black dress. Unlike the last scene she had seen she knew almost everyone here. There were two young girls she didn't recognize but there was also Rhombulus, Hekapoo, Lekmet, and Omnitraxus prime, they who had Eclipsa the Queen of Darkness cornered at the edge of a cliff. Next to Eclipsa was Glossaryck who stood by her with impassive eyes as he sat in mid air in his usual meditative stance.

"Fools." Eclipsa spat as she backed off towards the cliffs edge, her umbrella shaped wand clutched in her right hand as she held her wounded chest with her left hand. "In killing me do you realize what you will have done!?"

"Ending the reign of a tyrant." One of the young girls stated. "Its over mother, your rule has come to an end. You set aside our father for a monster and summoned nightmarish creatures to oppress our people. Now it comes to an end."

Moon saw both girls were Eclipsa's daughters. The older one was Arelia Butterfly while the younger girl was Luna the Young. Moon remembered that Arelia would die only a few months into her reign leaving the young Luna to take up the reigns.

"Oppress our people?" Eclipsa said with venom in her voice. "I was saving our people, your father wanted to keep things the way they were, maintain the status quo. I was going to usher in a new age."

"You took a monster for a lover and brought only pain and death!" Hekapoo said as she pointed one of her scissor-swords at Eclipsa.

"I followed my heart true, but it was all for Mewni." Eclipsa said as she glared at those who surrounded her. "I have seen more then any Queen before me, I have pulled down the veils of magic, peered beyond light and darkness. I saw that if our civilization stayed the course then it would be doomed."

"Your delving into dark magic is what would have doomed us!"

Eclipsa let out a sad laugh. "You have all allowed your pride to blind your reason. You are all so blinded by your beliefs that you cannot see the fall that is ahead of us. I alone have delved into the Void, I have traveled among the darkest places of this universe, borne witness to the birth of negative suns and witnessed the entropy of entire realities. Know that all you have built, Mewni itself is just a fleeting dream, a dream you will all some day awaken from, only to find yourselves in a greater Nightmare. I could've saved us all from it, but now with my death you have doomed us all."

"Your delving into the black arts have driven you mad." Omnitraxus stated. "Lets finish this."

Eclipsa allowed a small smile to adorn her face.

"All I wanted was a world where I could have loved him without being called a traitor...now I die by the hands of my own children." Eclipsa looked at her children, at the Magic High Commission, and finally gazed at Glossaryck. "In the end as the Darkness takes me...I am nothing."

Before anyone could deliver a finishing blow Rhombulus used his magic to freeze Eclipsa in crystal. Elicpsa stood frozen in her new crystal prison as it tipped over and fell sideways onto the dark grass.

"What the Hell Rhombulus?" Hekapoo yelled angrily. "We were going to kill her not imprison her!"

"She's too dangerous to kill, her mother was Hekatia the Necromancer." Rhombulus pointed out. "If we killed her she could become more powerful then we could possibly imagine."

"Hes right." Arelia said. "At least like this she can do no harm to anyone. Its best if the world believes she is dead. We need to take her away from here and place her somewhere where she will never see the light of day again."

Moon watched as they debated about where to imprison Eclipsa but her eyes were drawn to Glossaryck who had stayed silent during the whole exchange. Hekapoo walked up to him and slapped him on the back.

"Must be good to no longer be her helper, huh Glossaryck?" Hekapoo asked cheerfully.

Glossaryck simply gazed at Eclipsa as Rhombulus lifted her onto his back and began to haul her away from the cliff side.

"I'm so tired." Glossaryck mumbled as he hovered away.

The scenery around her all dissolved and Moon found herself standing in a forest, she was surrounded by trees that were as white as snow with red leaves.

"Is there no end to this?' She grumbled as she took a closer look at her new surroundings. "Bleeding willow trees." Moon observed as she gazed at the enormous trees. "I've never seen so many in one place."

"Capture her!"

"Bring her down!"

"Surrender now Star Butterfly!"

Moon turned and ran to where the voices were coming from, she flew through the treeline and came onto a clearing. She saw her daughter standing in the middle of the clearing, she was surrounded by dark armored figures. The air was cold as if it were the dead of winter and all around them were random croppings of ice that glittered in the light as snow fell from overhead.

Moon saw some of the trees were burning in a large pile and numerous others burned as well from being in close proximity to the flames. The smell of death and ash filled the air.

Star was on her knees, half her hair was its usual blonde while the other half was red, she had one red eye and one blue.

"Y **O** U W **I** L **L** N **O** T **T** A **K** E **H** I **M** F **R** O **M** U **S**!" Star yelled as she fell to her knees and let out a wordless scream.

Moon had to cover her ears and so did the armored figures. The air around Star rippled and the ground beneath her shook as her scream seemed to shatter the very air around her as her magic manifested itself physically. The armored figures fell to their knees in pain as Stars scream pierced their souls. Moon saw two dark figures approaching Star, fighting through the sheer magical energy.

Moon blinked and suddenly the sounds of Star screaming were gone, she was alone in a green clearing.

"No..." Moon moaned when she realized Star was gone. "No, I need to know more, I need to know how to find her!" Moon heard footsteps behind her and turned around to see a dark armored figure standing behind her.

This armored figure wasn't like the others, his armor was sleek, lean, detailed, and black as night. All around him lay the bodies of dead Mewman's, his armor was covered in their blood. He turned to her, he lifted the visor of his helm and all she could see beneath it was blinding light, as if she were staring into the sun.

Moon closed her eyes but when she reopened them she found herself standing in the central market of Mewni, only the market was in flames and all around her were the bodies of dead mewmans.

"No, what is this?" Moon asked as she looked around her. Buildings were burning, people screaming, and terrible creatures beyond description prowled the streets hunting people down.

"This is our reckoning."

Moon turned and saw the robed figure from before, her bare feet gliding across the ground as she walked up to Moon.

"What is this?" Moon demanded as she strode up to the figure. "I want to know where my daughter is, I don't want to see whatever nightmarish illusion this is. I want to see my daughter."

"I showed you enough. I showed you the past and even allowed you to have a brief glimpse of your daughters future." The woman replied. "As for all this." She gestured to the destruction around her. "This is not an illusion, this is whats coming for us."

Moon gazed around at the horror, her eyes were drawn to Mewni's castle which was on fire, plumes of black smoke choked the sun from the sky making it seem like it was night.

"How...why has this happened?" Moon asked as she gazed at all the death that surrounded her.

"Him." The woman pointed a dark figure who stood at the top of one of the castles towers.

Moon recognized the figure immediately, it was Toffee. He stood at the top of the tower, his hand pointed to the sky. His eyes were pure green and he glowed with green magical energy.

"He is our judgment." The woman stated simply as she let out a tired sigh. "He is the evil that we have created. The sins of the past have finally caught up to us."

"No...I don't believe you." Moon declared stubbornly. "No one deserves all this." Moon gestured to the destruction that surrounded them.

"We do." The woman answered simply. "Its a punishment equal to our crimes. We will all be called to account for all the atrocities we've committed, for the unspeakable horrors we have dealt to this world, and for the destruction of the ancients."

"I've read our history books, it wasn't all like that. We...we..."

"Your histories hold kernels of truth but those are wrapped up in even greater deceptions." She answered. "We came to these shores as refugees, we were starving, sick, and desperate. We wouldn't have survived at all if not for the mercy and generosity of the people who lived within these lands. When we escaped the Old Kingdoms destruction we brought with us our greed and vanity, it has led to use repeating the mistakes of the past."

Moon fell to her knees, she looked at the marketplace, at the bodies that littered it and she gazed at Toffee as he unleashed a bolt of green energy into the sky which turned the sky itself green. She looked around and saw her kingdom, her people, all of it being burned in green fire.

"We deserve it all." The woman repeated. "Your daughter might redeem us but there will still be a reckoning. Star will simply decide whether we survive it or not. What you see around us is what will happen if your daughter fails. The future is like a fire, it is always changing and shifting with the wind, but some fates are more likely then others."

"No...my Star...I wont let you use her like this." Moon got up and grabbed the woman by her shoulders. "Who are you to do this? What gives you the right to judge us!?" Moon demanded as she shook the woman.

The woman grabbed the hood of her robe and pulled it back. Her she had long brown hair, her features were plain and she had numerous scars all across her face, but her most prominent feature were her cheeks where two pink Butterfly's were displayed.

Moon let go of the woman and back away from her. "You're...one of us?" Moon asked as she gazed at the blue Butterfly's that adorned the woman's cheeks.

"For my great deeds in life I was granted Godhood as a reward, but it has instead been a punishment. I've had to watch as the my own people destroyed those who saved us. This world was beautiful beyond description when we first came here, but thanks to your actions it is a shadow of its former glory."

"No...This isn't true...none of this is true..." Moon muttered, not wanting to believe what she was hearing.

"I told you, people seldom enjoy the taste of truth. You claimed that you wanted truth." She said as she gazed at Moon. "I only know one truth. That truth is that it is time for Mewni...to end."

Moon was surrounded by green fire, it blocked her vision and engulfed her. Her vision was clouded by the green flames, but as quickly as they appeared they disappeared, leaving her standing alone in the chamber of reflection which looked the same as it had when she had first entered it.

Moon ran for the exit, she crashed through the door and fell to the ground. She felt soft hands help her up and she looked up to see Elder Daeron fretting over her.

"Moon, whats wrong? What did you see?' He asked, concern evident in his every word.

"Truth..."

* * *

 **Authors note**

The wait is over, I rewrote this chapter so many times…also by the 15th of this month all this will be retconned...this is my punishment for writing a fanfiction before the show has concluded. I'm just doing my own thing.

Please leave a review, always happy to hear your opinions.

Okay so….mewni and monster relations...I took the Mewnipednace day angle and ran with it. I didnt want a one dimensional conflict, I wanted it to reflect the real world.

The only thing that kept me going through my dry spell were all your wonderful reviews. Thank you so much for your support, I only hope this chapter made you happy. I doubt it was worth the wait but hopefully you enjoyed it.

I've been messaged by some people who took time out of their day to call me a hack terrible writer...well I never claimed to be a professional writer or even a good one, if I was a professional I wouldn't be writing Star vs fanfiction….I would be writing a Song of ice and fire fanfiction instead.

Seriously though, this is a hobby, I write because I enjoy it. I like writing stuff and then seeing if other people enjoy reading it. So chill out folks, its only fanfiction, its a fun waste of time. But on the other hand I also received tons of supportive messages which drowned out the bad ones, so thank you to all my fans for sticking with me.

This chapter...I didnt really enjoy writing it, lots of unfamiliar territory for me and I found it hard to make things entertaining. Saint Olga was easier to write, which is funny since on paper I had a lot more going on with multiple perspectives and characters all going on at the same time.

Someone pointed out that this is the most followed piece of fanfiction in the section and is about to be the most favorites, all I have to say to that is...wow. When I first wrote this I thought MAYBE 50 people would follow it. But now...jeez...I guess people really like watching me lose my mind by writing absolute insanity. I rewatched the entire series in preparation for season 3 premier and Jesus Christ am I a fucked up individual.

TV show Star- "I think earth is pretty great place!"

My Story's Star- **"All** **I've** **ever wanted is to watch you drift in and out of consciousness as** **you're** **slowly disemboweled!"**

Yeah I'm a messed up individual. Next chapter will come out whenever it comes out, hopefully season 3 will give me inspiration. We will probably see whats going on back on earth since we spent this entire chapter on Mewni.

Also play my new drinking game. Read my story and take a drink every time you see a reference or a quote from another piece of fiction. You'll be dead before you finish the 2nd chapter.


	7. Recovery and Relapse

**I do not own Star vs The Forces of Evil**

 **And yes this is an update, I'm not dead...yet...**

* * *

Moon Butterfly sat in her personal solar and looked over document after document upon her desk. Being Queen of a Kingdom as large and influential as Mewni meant she spend a great deal of time doing paperwork, or writing letters to other individuals of great power in the universe. The papers in her hands today were different, they were numerous reports from her spies corps and other documents that related to her missing daughter.

The documents had no information of value.

"This shouldn't be possible." Moon growled as she held a document in her hand and ignited it with magical fire. "How is there no trace of her?" She knew that the Universe was a large place with a nearly infinite amount of dimensions and timelines, but someone as distinctive as Star should have been sighted somewhere. Especially with word out of a reward for her safe return. If it wasn't for the fact that she knew that there was a form of divine intervention involved she might have feared the worst and that Star was dead in some dark corner of the universe.

Moons thoughts turned to her visit to the monster temple. She had told Elder Daeron everything she had seen and he listened with rapt attention. In the end neither of them knew what to do with the things she had been shown by the strange figure she had met. After meeting that strange woman at the monster temple she delved into every single book in her library to find someone who matched the woman she had met. Unfortunately there was no Queen that matched the woman's looks, not in any of the books she possessed. Many of her forebears had Butterfly markings on their cheeks, her own mother had blue butterfly marks. Not to mention most reliable pictures and descriptions of former Queens only went back eight hundred years or so.

Moon was shaken from her thoughts by the sounds of the door to her solar opening. She turned and saw her husband walk in, her husband had been hard at work making sure that Mewnis borders and various lands were secured. While she knew River wasn't very good at statecraft he made up for with military ability.

"I've secured the borders and I have ordered the third army to move into the ghost lands of the Reach. If Toffee wants to attack us he will be walking into a deathtrap. Knowing him however he would never use a frontal assault, he is far too careful for that," River stated as he walked up to his wife. "I've also ordered all the local Highlords and Ladies to be on guard and to have their troops prepared to be deployed at a moments notice should any one of our kingdoms holdings come under attack."

"Its not enough to rely on the nobility, we need to increase the size of the royal army." Moon responded.

"I have Grunt training a new army as we speak to shore up the reserves. Although I don't have much hope for them. I watched them training this morning and I can honestly say my grandmother could beat up most of these new recruits."

"That's not saying much, your grandmother was the scariest women I ever met. The woman was eight feet tall and wrestled bears." Moon said got up off her chair."Regardless, you've done an excellent job of securing the kingdom." Moon leaned down to give her husband a quick kiss. "If only I could rely on everyone as much as I rely on you."

River let out a light chuckle. "When it comes to military strategy I'm your man, just don't ask me to attend to matters of state." He let out a tired sigh. "Also I've been told that Hekapoo and the rest of the your magical friends are awaiting you in the library with an update on their search for our daughter."

"Hopefully they have had more luck then out spy corps." Moon said as she got up and walked out of the room with River hot on her heels. After navigating the palace she eventually reached the meeting room where she often met the magic high commission. She found the commission sitting around a large round table at the center of the room.

"What have you found out?" Moon asked immediately, too impatient to follow royal courtesy and decorum. The several seconds of silence that followed her question told Moon everything she needed to know. "So you've found nothing?"

"I wouldn't say nothing..." Rhombulus began as he rubbed his snake hands together nervously. "Just close to nothing."

"Her timeline is invisible to me." Omnitraxus stated simply. "I cannot see her present or future."

"Is that even possible?" Moon asked angrily. "All these years you've introduced yourself as the master of space-time, how is it you don't know where my daughter is?"

"Two possibilities." Omnitraxus began. "One possibility is that she is somewhere outside of space and time...although I'm not sure how anyone would manage that. The only other possibility is that my vision is being blocked by a higher power."

"Higher power?" Rhombulus asked. "For all the centuries I've known you, you've always claimed to be the undisputed master of space-time. Have you been lying?"

"Look I maintain and observe space-time...and...do other things..."

"So your a space time janitor?" Rhombulus asked. "Man and I thought my job as the muscle of this organization was lame. I pretty much outrank you."

"Listen here you crystallized reptilian-"

"ENOUGH!" Moon yelled, breaking up the fight that was already in the making. "I don't care for you excuses I want results." She turned to Hekapoo and Lekmet. "I hope you two have had better results"

"Baaaaaaa." Lekmet said while shaking his head.

"Lekmet says that Star isn't dead." Rhombulus translated for the rest of the group. "As an intermediary between life and death that's pretty much all he knows."

"I got nothing." Hekapoo said simply as she toyed around with her pair of dimensional scissors.

Moon walked over to Hekapoo and glared at the red haired woman. "You of all people should have results. Star left Saint Olga's through a portal created by one of your scissors. So I hope you have more to say-for your own sake."

Hekapoo scoffed. "Look your asking me to find a needle in a haystack, a needle that is moving around and most likely doesn't want to be found."

"Its a difficult task, I know this. What of it?" Moon asked as she looked around the room at the members of the magic high commission. "Listen to me. I rule one of the richest and most influential kingdoms in the entire multiverse. Entire civilizations from across the universe look to me for alliances and trade while also wondering if they could take my kingdoms wealth for their own through war. Here at home I have a noble families that are either seeking my favor or seeking ways to depose me, all the while squabbling among themselves." She turned to Hekapoo. "You cannot expect me to pity you the difficulty of your task."

"Look..." Hekapoo got up from her chair and began pacing around the room. "My scissors have amazing privacy settings, there are a lot of weird dimensions out there and my clients want to make sure that no one knows exactly where they are going. I cant trace the portals that she opened."

"What about the boy?" Moon asked. "I asked you to look into who he is as well. Marco Diaz of Earth, every single princess who got out of Saint Olga's claim he is some sort of Hero who rescued them. From the surveillance at the school we know he has some combat training and that he fought alongside my daughter for most of the night before leaving with her through a portal."

"Waste of time looking into him." Hekapoo said. "Humans are worthless nobodies."

"Don't start Hekapoo." Omnitraxus chided. "You're just angry that there are humans who have created superior dimensional traveling devices that make your scissors look like a relic."

"Portal guns are a fad." Hekapoo grumbled. "They need fuel, maintenance, and if you get the fuel wrong the portal will vaporize you. My scissors are works of art crafted to suit each individual user. Not some mass produced bullshit."

"I don't care about your dimensional scissors business." Moon interjected. "All I care about is your ability to find out more information about Marco Diaz. We know hes from the Earth Dimension but we need to know which one."

Hekapoo let out a sigh and opened up a small portal and reached into it, she pulled out a broken sword from the portal and set it on the table in the center of the room. Moon recognized it as the sword that the Marco boy had used when he had appeared before her daughter. "This is the sword we found at the school, cheap factory steel which is why it broke after being jabbed into a monster. I ran the tests and I'm pretty sure I know which version of earth its from." Hekapoo turned to Moon. "Hes from Earth Dimensions C-667 within the central finite curve. Specifically hes from a place called Echo Creek California. From what I've been able to find out he is nothing special. Just a typical teenage human male from a backwater dimension."

"Regardless I will be investigating every lead. This boy is currently traveling in the company of my daughter, so its only natural we find out what type of person he is." Moon turned to River. "Make yourself presentably River, we will be traveling to Earth Dimension C-667."

"Presentable?" River asked as he looked over himself. "Who are we trying to impress?"

"Marco Diaz is a teenager and the best way to get to know a teenager is by meeting with their parents."

* * *

Jackie Lynn Thomas shifted uneasily on the heels of her feet as she stood on the sidewalk in front of her house. She felt a bead of sweat trickle down her forehead and she wiped it away with the back of her right hand. It was a typical sunny California day and the heat had begun to kick in. Jackie pulled out her cell phone to check the time, it was still early in the morning and school didn't start for another hour. Usually she would ride her skateboard, roller-blade, or even use a scooter to get to school, today however she was going to get picked up by friends.

"Friends..." Jackie muttered to herself, the word sounding odd coming from her mouth. She had mostly been a loner for all sixteen years of her life, preferring to be an adrenaline junkie as opposed to the normal socializing the other people at school took part in. But much to her surprise her lifestyle as a loner skater girl wearing worn out clothes made her popular and she regularly found herself invited to parties and other social events.

Most of the friends she kept were casual friends with Janna being the only one she would consider a true friend since the Janna enjoyed skateboarding. Which was why she found herself waiting to be picked up by Oskar Greason, ever since Marcos Diaz had gotten sucked into a portal Janna had been acting stranger and stranger. Janna had always been a rebel who flaunted her strange beliefs and macabre humor but now Janna had grown sullen and angry, any time Jackie had tried to console her friend she was pushed away. Jackie hoped that by getting involved with Janna's other friends the girl would open up to her.

Jackie was broken from her musings about Janna by the sound of a car horn honking. She looked up and saw a large windowless brown van that looked like the type of vehicle a serial killer would drive parked near her.

Oskar leaned out of the window of the rust-bucket of a vehicle and called out to her. "Yo Jackie! Hurry up, I ain't got all day!"

Jackie ran up to the car and got into the passenger seat. The van was a monstrosity on the outside and the inside wasn't much better. Old food wrappers littered the car along with old clothes and numerous musical instruments in various states of disrepair. It was a huge van that could seat well over six people if the very back seats hadn't been torn out to make room for storage.

"Hey Oskar…." Jackie greeted as she cleaned up the passenger seat. "When did you get this van? Did you trade in your old car or something?"

Oskar started up the van and began driving. "Yeah...I turned eighteen last week and my cunt of a mother kicked me out of the house. She said I was the governments problem now, I went down to the old junkyard and old Joe and Coop gave me this baby and helped me fix her up, been living out of it."

Jackie looked into the vans back and saw a large pile of clothes along with a worn mattress on the ground. Oskar's ferret Gene sat happily on the clothes pile eating an old meatball sub.

"Wow that sucks….wait...you're eighteen years old?" Jackie asked as she turned back to Oskar. "I thought you were the same age as the rest of the class?"

"Held back two years." Oskar stated nonchalantly, not letting his gaze break from the road. "You never thought it was odd that I've been driving a car since sophomore year?"

"I just figured you didn't care about the law." Jackie responded as she settled into her seat. "So...who are we picking up next?"

"Alfonzo, then Ferguson, and then Janna. Would usually pick up Marco first but..."

Jackie heard the hurt in Oskar's voice and nodded. "Any news about him?" Nobody had seen a hint of Marco since that night. Jackie would never have believed the stories of what had happened if she hadn't seen it with her own eyes. Marco getting sucked into a portal that appeared out of thin air, Jackie still sometimes pinched herself to make sure she wasn't still dreaming.

"None, its like hes gone from the face of this earth." Oskar stopped the car as soon as he said those words and honked the horn. Jackie looked at where they had stopped and saw that they were in a upper middle class neighborhood. Soon enough she saw Alfonzo Dolittle stepping out of one of the nicer houses.

Jackie had never really spoken to Alfonzo, she recalled doing a math assignment with him back in the third grade. He was incredibly smart and incredibly awkward. He had changed over the last few years, he had grown taller, he was easily six feet if not a few inches taller. He would have been an impressive sight if it wasn't for the fact he was so lanky.

Oskar leaned out the window and greet his friend. "Wassup, homie?!"

Alfonzo shook his head at Oskar. "I hate it when you use words like homie, this isn't the early nineties anymore, also I'm from a middle class family, I don't live in South Central." He said as he got into the backseat of the van. Alfonzo's eyes fell upon Jackie and he gave her a wave. "Sup Jackie."

"Sup." Jackie responded.

"Oh whatever." Oskar complained to Alfonzo as he started up the van and got it back onto the road. "You should be proud of your heritage the way I am of mine. My parents might be losers but I still have Apache blood in me courtesy of my dad."

"Me not liking the word homie has nothing to do with heritage." Alfonzo replied. "Besides you aren't even Apache. Your father grew up on a Kanien'Keha reservation which means your ancestors were Mohawks who were most likely maize farmers who also did a little hunting-gathering on the side."

"Details." Oskar stated as he continued driving to school. "You're just jealous because I have a warrior spirit in me."

"Uh hu." Alfonzo replied. "I guess that's why Marco had to save your ass back when those two guys down at the park were harassing you."

"I let Marco take care of them because if I had gone into attack mode they would've been seriously injured." Oskar replied. "Hell they were lucky I didn't do a flying tomahawk and scalp their asses."

Alfonzo ignored his friends comments and simply reached into his school bag and pulled out a laptop computer and began busying himself with a game. "Whatever helps you sleep at night." He turned to Jackie who had been quiet throughout the exchange between two friends. "So why have you decided to join our morning carpool? Did you really want to ride to school with a bunch of weird misfits?"

"I've decided to be a little more social." Jackie replied. "Besides I don't think you guys are weird misfits."

Oskar chuckled. "Here we are, Ferguson's house, I think you'll be changing your tune on that soon enough." Oskar said as he pulled up to Ferguson's driveway, he honked the horn several times and soon enough Ferguson walked out of the house.

Jackie looked out of the vans window and saw Ferguson O'durguson running to the van as Oskar continued to honk the horn. Ferguson had always been a large guy but she had noticed him losing a bit of weight in the last few years, whether that was from diet or him simply growing into his weight she couldn't tell, although he was still very much an overweight fellow whose belly often stuck out from the bottom of his shirt.

She had very little interactions with Ferguson despite the fact the two of them had been attending the sames school since kindergarten. He had always been the class clown and very outgoing. He was especially notorious among the female population of the school for being very forward in his attempts at flirting and had asked out every girl in the school out on dates at least once. Yet for some reason she couldn't recall him every asking her out on a date.

' _That is odd.'_ Jackie thought to herself as she watched Ferguson get into the backseat next to Alfonzo. Jackie tried her best to avoid being vain, she didn't want to be a pretentious girl who thought overly highly of herself like Brittney Wong, but she wasn't stupid either. She knew that she was pretty, guys had been asking her out on dates since she was in middle school. She held both a hate and love for her own body. She liked being what was considered 'pretty' by society, however she hated the fact that her breasts were so large and heavy which made it harder for her to perform tricks on her skateboard and made her feel like a piece of meat whenever she wore a bikini when she went surfing.

' _Yet_ _despite_ _him hitting on every girl at school hes never so much as made a pass at me.'_ Jackie thought curiously before shaking her head. _'Stop it Jackie, your being shallow. I never thought I could be so petty about something so superficial.'_

"Hey Jackie." Ferguson greeted courteously before turning to Oskar. "There's no need to honk your horn, I can see you from my window."

"Maybe if your fat ass moved faster I wouldn't have to honk my horn." Oskar replied as he pulled into the road.

"I have a glandular problem!" Ferguson argued. "Besides I'm not fat, I'm simply fluffy."

Jackie relaxed as the drive went on, as much as she enjoyed riding her skateboard to school there was something to be said for riding in car with friendly people. Jackie exchanged minor small talk and gossip with her companions, Alfonzo even took a break from his video game to look over her math homework and correct a few mistakes she made. Soon Jackie recognized the road Janna lived on, Janna lived in a fairly upscale neighborhood since her parents had fairly good jobs. Eventually they were in front of Janna's house. Oskar began honking his vans horn while Ferguson sat in the back criticizing Alfonzo's ability to play video games.

"You suck." Ferguson complained as he looked at his friends laptop screen.

"Its not fair, all I did was pick up a wooden bowl by accident at the local tavern and now half the guards in the hold are after me." Alfonzo complained as he shut off his computer. "Redguard can never catch a motherfucking break."

"Finally!" Oskar yelled as he saw Janna's form emerge from the house. "Come On Janna, you're going to make us late for school!"

Jackie looked upon her longtime female friend and frowned. Janna had always preferred to life an alternative lifestyle and didn't care about how others perceived her. She was happy, self-confident, outgoing, and flirted with just about everyone. Now she was far more introverted, rarely talked to anyone outside her circle of friends. Janna had even changed her looks, she had been dying her hair every week since Marco disappeared, and she had gotten several piercings on her face.

Janna got into the van and sat in the seat behind Jackie. Jackie turned around and greeted her friend."Hey Janna, how have you been?" She asked as she looked at her best friend.

"Fine." Janna answered quickly in a way that told Jackie that she didn't want to talk. "I would be even better if I didn't have to go to school today and have some quack try to psychoanalyze me."

"Its your own fault." Ferguson chimed in. "After that mess you made of the art classroom I'm surprised you aren't getting detention for the rest of the year."

"You're one to talk!" Janna complained as she punched Ferguson in the arm, making him wince. "You idiots started all this! It was your campaign of fear and hate against Brittney Wong is what caused all this. Trying to throw burn a girl at the stake tends to have the law crackdown."

"Our classmates barely got her tied up before the police showed up and hit us with tear gas." Alfonzo replied dismissively. "Besides, it had to have been Brittney, I mean, how else did Marco get sucked into a portal? She screams that she wants Marco to get sucked into a black abyss, suddenly a black hole opens up in the living room and swallows him whole."

Jackie decided to tone in. "We've all known Brittney since we were kids. Hell I've been to every single one of her birthday parties. She is a sad, vain, and shallow girl who has no real connections to people...but she would never intentionally send someone off into a portal with witchcraft or whatever." Jackie explained to the three other occupants of the car. "Even if she had the power to open portals, she would have used that power to return him, this whole portal incident has destroyed her popularity and made her an outcast."

"She makes a point." Oskar said as he pulled into Echo Creek High Schools parking lot. "None of us are happy that Marcos gone but we need to just calm down and let things play out. Its not like we know where he went after he got sucked into that portal."

"Assuming Brittney isn't responsible...then my moneys on him traveling through time." Ferguson intoned. "Maybe he was needed in the future to fight a robot apocalypse, or he was needed to overthrow an evil Overlord who enslaved mankind."

"That's stupid." Alfonzo replied. "If it was time travel he would have gone back in time, maybe to Arthurian times or something where his knowledge of future technology and tactics will save history."

"My moneys on another dimension." Jackie said, wanting to throw into the conversation. The whole reason she had joined them in their carpool was to get to know them and help Janna so she might as well become a part of their little group. "If not another dimension then another place in time and space."

"It was just a freak occurrence." Janna sneered. "Marco isn't a time traveling samurai or tactical genius. Hes an average guy with a black-belt in karate."

"He is a really good black-belt." Oskar pointed out and he began reversing his van into the best parking spot he could find. "As for tactics he does lead our mythic plus groups whenever we do dungeons."

"Knowing karate and being a guild/raid leader in World of fucking Warcraft doesn't make you a savior. He was probably taken away from us by chance or because God has a fucked up sense of humor." Janna grumbled as she opened the vans door and got out. "See you guys later."

Jackie sucked in a breath through clenched teeth. "She isn't dealing with him being gone all that well."

"None of us are." Alfonzo replied as he gathered up his stuff into his backpack. "Marco was the foundation of our little group. He planned out our weeks, we spent every weekend at his house, without him our group chemistry is thrown off. Janna's taking it especially hard since Marco was among the only people who didn't push her away when she gets all weird….that and one other reason."

"What other reason?" Jackie asked curiously.

"Don't worry about it." Alfonzo said dismissively. "Point is without him there isn't much holding us together."

"Well maybe Jackie is the solution to that." Ferguson pointed out as he looked at Jackie. "Your cool and calm, the perfect combination to make our group of friends function."

"I'm not that cool and calm." Jackie began only to be cut off by Ferguson.

"You're joking right?" He asked, not believing what he was hearing. "People around the school call you Jackie Frost because your so cool."

"Well….I guess so..." Jackie enjoyed her solitude but also knew that the only way to help Janna would be to hang out regularly with her friends. "Fine...I guess hanging out with you guys regularly would be cool."

Oskar put around Jackie's Shoulder and drew her into a half hug. "Welcome to the team Jackie, you wont regret this." Oskar looked at her. "How do you feel about online role playing games? With Marco gone we need a new main healer for our guild…"

"Uhhh..." Jackie felt like she had bitten off more then she could chew and began to regret her decision.

* * *

Marco warmed himself around a small fire-pit which had a pot of water boiling on top of it. He looked over to where Star was and saw her sleeping in a bed made out of unused clothes and furs. The two of them were camping in the cave they had found a few days ago. The cave seemed to go deep into the earth and apparently had no end. They had traveled for what seemed like an eternity with no signs of the cave stopping. Marco would have demanded that they call it quits but the weather outside the cave kept getting colder. Even the river that flowed deep through the cave had chunks of ice floating down it. The cold forced them to go deeper just to avoid freezing to death.

Marco felt himself shiver as another gust of cold air blew through the cave. "I miss sunny California." He grumbled to himself as he stirred the water in the pot. The fire was fueled by mushrooms that could be found growing all over the cave. Some were small like normal earth mushrooms while others were as large as trees. The cave itself was kept from being pitch black by large glowing mushrooms that lined the ground and walls.

Marco added several mushrooms that he knew were safe to eat into the pot along with some meat that his traveling companion had managed to get from fish that lurked in the river. After several minutes the water grew thick with oil and took on a brown color as he made what appeared to be fish and mushroom stew. Marco brought a spoonful up to his mouth and blew on it to cool it down before taking a bite.

"Not bad..." Marco muttered as he let the taste linger in his mouth, the taste was thick and salty but not unpleasant. "It'll do...although I would kill for some nachos."

" **Bitching about nachos again?"**

Marco turned and saw Star walking over to him as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Her tone of voice, red eyes, and red hair let him know which aspect of the girls personality he was dealing with.

"Morning Red." Marco greeted as he put the finishing touches on his culinary concoction. "Sleep well?"

" **Red?"** Star asked as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. **"So** **I'm** **Red now is that it?"**

"Red hair, red eyes, I might as well call you Red." Marco stated matter-of-factlly "I'm sick of just calling the both of you Star. It makes me feel like Im living in one long Abbot and Costello routine."

" **Well I** **don't** **like it."** 'Red' stated angrily. **"What do you call the other bitch?"**

 _I'm right here you know._

 _ **Believe me I wish I could forget about you.**_

"Blue I guess." Marco responded simply. "She has blue eyes and blue is the opposite of red."

 _He makes a good point. Although the proper title for me would be Princess Blue._

" **By that logic I should call you brown. Brown hair, brown eyes, and brown skin. Hell your initials spell out MUD which is also brown."**

"Call me whatever you want." Marco replied casually. "Just know that the two of you are Red and Blue as far as I'm concerned." Marco let out a tired sigh. Usually he was the type of person to avoid conflict of any sort. He was usually the mediator in most fights with all of his close friends being at each others throats at any given time. But weeks in a strange dimension had begun to wear on him and he felt his patience slowly withering away.

" **Youre** **starting to piss me off."** Red replied as she walked up to him and gave him a death glare. **"You saving me back at Saint Olga's will only get you so much slack from me. Keep pissing me off and Ill kick your ass."**

Marco chuckled as he stood up and looked Star over. The girl was several inches shorter then him but made up for it by having surprising strength for having such a petite form. "I know your stronger then you look and I've seen how bad ass you are in a fight but in pure hand to hand combat discipline will always win. I'm a black-belt in karate and have won karate tournaments."

Red walked up to him and leaned in so close that their noses were almost touching. **"** **Y** **ou saying you can kick my ass?"**

"I'm merely stating the obvious." Marco replied factually. "I saw you fight at Saint Olga's. You're all strength with no form."

 **"** **Ill show you fucking form in a minute."** She grabbed Marco by the collar of his fur clothes. **"You and me, right here, right now."**

Usually Marco would refuse a fight but he thought about it for a second and decided it might be a good way for the two of them to vent their frustrations. He often felt calmer and more serene after practicing karate or taking part in friendly sparring at his local dojo. "I don't like fighting, but a friendly spar might be something we could both benefit from. It might be a good way for you to vent all that anger and negative energy." He pushed her away to free up his collar, he reached down and threw some dirt over the fire to cool it down.

" **I'm going to show you true power."** She stated as she cracked her knuckles.

"Don't make me regret this." Marco replied as he began stretching his arms and legs. "You make everything personal, this is just a friendly spar. After traveling together for weeks its only natural that we eventually start to get on each others nerves. This will be a good way to work out some frustration. Some ground rules, hand to hand combat only, no weapons or magic. The fights over when one of us gives up or is unable to continue. Also Blue has to agree to this, I wont fight you if she doesn't consent."

 _ **You okay with this?**_

 _I am, if it will just get you to calm down. Just promise not to hurt our champion badly. Like he said this is a friendly spar._

" **She agrees."** Red stated as she cracked her knuckles. **"** **Lets do this."** She got into a fighting stance and glared at her opponent.

"Fine." Marco grunted as he got into a defensive stance. "A friendly spar, winner gets to give the other whatever nickname they wish."

" **Agreed."**

Both Red and Marco stood their ground, seconds passed as neither of them made a move. Red glared at her opponent while Marco simply gazed at her with a passive expression.

" **You afraid of me?"** She asked angrily. **"If you wont make the first move then I will!"** She charged at him and threw a hard right punch aimed directly at Marcos face.

Marco sidestepped the strike and grabbed her now outstretched right arm and used her momentum to grab her by the wrist and throw her over his shoulder.

Red went flying and landed in a heap in a bunch of dirt. She picked herself up and glared at Marco. **"You are so dead!"**

"Many people in my dimension view karate as a third-rate martial art taught to children in malls." Marco began, ignoring Reds outburst of anger. "Most view Krav Maga, Muay Thai, and other flashier martial arts as being superior. However unlike those other martial arts karate is about honing both the body and the mind. When body and mind strike as one they can overcome anything. Its the most important lesson my sensei taught me."

" **You're** **about to learn a lesson!"** Red yelled as she charged at Marco once again, this time half way to reaching him she jumped into the air to deliver a flying kick.

Marco rolled his eyes and once again sidestepped the attack. This time Star managed to roll into a landing and smoothly turned to face Marco.

"Your angry which makes you predictable." Marco pointed out. "When you are angry you end up defeating only yourself since you become your own worst enemy."

 _He might have a point, maybe we should-_

" **Fuck you!"** Red screamed as she charged at Marco. Not bothering to deliver a large predictable attack she began throwing a series of quick punches at Marco in the hopes of overwhelming him. Sadly her attacked were either dodged, blocked, or misdirected by Marcos gentle sweeping motions and karate chops until finally Marco delivered a quick open palm jab right into Reds chest.

She clutched her chest as she felt the wind get knocked out of her. She immediately jumped back to get as much space between her and Marco as possible. She expected Marco to press the attack while he had the upper hand but instead he simply held his ground and looked at her impassively.

" **You...piece...of...shit!"** Red grunted as she regained her composure after having the wind knocked out of her. **"You punched me in the boob!"**

Marco smiled. "You must be mistaken, I'm looking at your chest right now and I don't see boobs." He got the reaction he was expecting. Reds eyes narrowed as she glared at him.

" **Oh no you did not just..."** Red trailed off, so mad she couldn't form words, her hands grasped her chest as she tried to process what Marco had just said.

 _It hurts because its true…_

" **I** **haven't** **gone through mewberty yet you bastard!"** Red yelled as she once again charged at Marco.

"Anger is not strategy, it might give you temporary strength, but one cannot achieve victory through strength alone." Marco stated as he dodged each of Reds punches and kicks. Once he saw an opening he delivered another jab to Reds chest, the same place he had struck before. "Pain is an excellent teacher, one that you will become familiar with if you keep leaving yourself open in the same place."

Red clutched her chest once again and backed away so she could recover from the strike. She looked up and saw Marco looking at her, he hadn't broken a sweat while she was sweating bullets and could already feel a light bruise forming on her chest.

"Your punches are strong as hell, if any of them landed on me I would be down for the count, heck my arms hurt just blocking your strikes." Marco pointed out. "However all that strength is useless if you just swing randomly like a street-side brawler." He saw Reds head lower as she seemed to consider his words. "You shouldn't let it get to you though. Don't be discouraged, everyone begins in ignorance."

" **I am not ignorant!"** Red raised her head and charged at him once again, her speed was so great Marco had to react immediately. He sidestepped attack and put her into a standard karate joint lock. He grabbed her arm and twisted it behind her back as he slammed her to the ground.

"That was called a joint lock, now I have you on the ground with my entire body weight on top of you and your right arm immobilized. If you don't give up Ill be forced to apply pressure to your arm which runs the risk of seriously injuring it."

" **Never!"** Red screamed. **"Ill never give up!"** She tried to break free but Marco simply twisted her immobilized arm which caused send torrents of sharp pain through her body.

"Then we both get to stay like this, hope your comfortable."

Red struggled against her opponent, she cursed, she yelled, and raged until she began to run out of energy. **"You fucker! If I had a sword you would be dead!** **I've** **been trained in arms since I was a child!"**

"I agree." Marco said as he held her down. "My weapons skills are very low, however we aren't fighting with swords, the only weapons we are using is our bodies and its clear which of us is the winner."

" **I'm a warrior!"** Red screamed as she struggled against Marco. **"I wont be defeated!"**

"Just calm down Red." Marco soothed trying to get the struggling girl to relax. "If this was a battle with weapons or magic you would have beaten me a hundred times over. Now would you hurry up and give up? I feel uncomfortable doing this to a girl."

" **Shut up!"**

Marco let out a frustrated sigh. "I don't see why you have to be so difficult. I just want to get along with you, we've been trudging around a hellish forest for weeks, almost got killed for a sandwich, got thrown off an enormous waterfall, and now we are stuck journeying deep in the earth to escape a freak cold snap. I'm trying my best to be a good traveling companion but my patience is wearing thin. What is your problem with me?"

" **You're too fucking nice!"** Red screamed angrily as she stopped struggling and laid limp on the ground. **"I don't get you...your so patient and nice...it isn't natural. I get angry at you because you're always nice, patient, and caring. Its fucking weird!** **You have me beaten but instead of gloating you act all understanding and shit!** **Also always apologizing for things which pisses me off even more!"**

It took several seconds for Marco to process that information. "You don't like me...because I'm nice?"

" **Exactly..."** She muttered as she gave up on fighting his grip. **"I just** **don't** **get you...you get taken away from your dimension, thrown into a crazy** **journey** **with a girl like me, your** **e** **far away from home, and** **theirs** **a good possibility that you might die on this** **journey.** **Yet you keep calm and annoyingly upbeat about it. Its so hard for me to get angry at you that I get angry because I cant get angry! Its driving me crazy!"**

"Sorry." Marco muttered as he tried to process what the girl was saying.

" **There you go apologizing again!"** Red yelled. **"You…"** She trailed off as she got lost in her own thoughts. **"Just...let me go, I surrender. Call me by whatever nickname you want."**

Marco let go of his grip on her and got of her back. He offered his hand to her to help her up. Red ignored his offered hand and got up on her own strength and dusted herself off.

"You okay Red?" Marco asked as he looked the girl over to make sure she didn't have any injuries. "Sorry if I hurt you I usually-" Marcos eyes widened as he realized he apologized again, something his companion had just explained made her angry. "Sorry for apologizing, I mean I'm sorry that...I mean..." He struggled to find a way to apologize without apologizing.

Red gazed at him, her red eyes which were usually filled with anger were instead calm and contemplative. She turned away from him and walked towards the fire-pit where their breakfast had been sitting throughout their entire fight.

" **Lets just eat breakfast.** **"** Red said simply as she walked towards the fire-pit.

Marco let out a tired sigh as he watched the girl begin to serve herself food.

"I do not understand girls at all..."

* * *

The palace where Mewni's royal family lived was a large structure, almost a city unto itself, having numerous levels with its tallest towers reaching into the sky. The palace had to house the Royal family, serve as the center of politics, business, and commerce for all of Mewni, entertain foreign dignitaries, and house all the staff and guards that allowed the palace to function.

Numerous guards, knights, and soldiers patrolled its seemingly endless corridors, making any direct assault upon it impossible. Two such guards stood guard at a posting deep within Mewni's palace on the lowest levels of the building.

"By all the Gods this is boring..." Mike muttered as he rested his back against a wall. Mike was an average run of the mill guardsman within Mewni's palace. He wore chain mail enchanted to deflect blows and weigh less so it wouldn't hinder his movement, a face concealing metal helmet with the face plate enchanted to allow him to see through it as if it wasn't there. He had a belt that held his weapons and a large tabard that covered the front of his armor. The tabard was adorned blue and adorned with the Butterfly family heraldry, a golden Butterfly on a blue field.

Mike let out a sigh as he looked to his job partner, a man by the name of Dave. Much like himself Dave was average in every way imaginable and wore the exact same armor making them almost indistinguishable from one another.

"You ever wonder why we're here?" Mike asked as he turned to Dave who was leaning lazily against the same wall he was.

"Its one of life's great mystery's isn't it?" Dave replied. "Why are we here? Are we the product of some cosmic coincidence, or are there Gods who have plans for us and stuff? In this vast multiverse with infinite dimensions and timelines...does anything really have value? I mean...this conversation could be taking place in an infinite amount of dimensions and timelines between an infinite amount of versions of ourselves. Do we really matter in the grand scheme of things if there are so many versions of ourselves out in the multiverse? I don't know man...but it keeps me up at night..."

"….I meant why are we standing here guarding the royal morgue…." Mike gestured to the door they were standing on either side of. It was a passageway that led to the morgue where dead bodies were stored to protect them from decomposition.

"Oh...that's what you meant..." Dave replied, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.

"What the hell was all that stuff about the Gods and multiverse?"

"Its nothing..."

"Want to talk about it?"

"I really don't."

"Seriously though. Why are we here?" Mike asked as he gazed at the giant doors to the morgue. "Why the hell does a morgue need protection? Who the hell would break into a morgue?"

"Necrophiliacs?" Dave offered as he shrugged his shoulders.

"Gross." Mike muttered. "And be serious, how many necrophiliacs do you think hang around this palace?"

"I don't know." Dave replied. "We have been working as guards here for three years and we've only seen AT MOST five percent of this place. There are hundreds of people working as kitchen staff just to keep the mess hall stocked. With a population of people this big working in the palace there's bound to be a few necrophiliacs here, its a statistically impossible that there isn't."

"Regardless of the amount of necrophiliacs that are scuttling about I think its a waste of our talents to be standing guard outside of the morgue."

"What talents?" Dave asked incredulously. "Our job is to stand around looking intimidating, we aren't exactly cut out for much else. Unless you're actually intend to be a madman and try out to become a squire, spend your day polishing some stuck-up knights plate mail. Or maybe you want to swear allegiance to some Lord and die as some foot soldier in a ditch fighting in some gods forsaken battle. Being a rent-a-cop for a magical royal family isnt half bad compared to the alternatives."

"Well we are cut out for more then guarding a morgue!" Mike pointed put. "Why does this palace even have a morgue? I swear, these Highborn need their own personal space for everything, they think they're too good to even share them same morgue as us commoners."

"You shouldn't talk about the Highborn like that." Dave said seriously. "If the watch commander hears you saying stuff like that he'll have us on latrine duty."

"Look, Queen Moon is awesome." Mike said in a conciliatory tone. "She was kicking ass for the Kingdom since she was a teenager. She defeated an Immortal Monster and his entire army with only a small army of loyal knights and a bunch of armed peasants backing her up. But the rest of those Highborn are useless! They don't do anything useful and seem to just sit around acting like they're better then the rest of us. What do they have that we don't?"

"Money for one thing." Dave grumbled. "If we weren't busy with this job then I would join one of the adventuring guilds, or maybe become a mercenary. If we were mercenaries then we could join the search for Princess Star. Queen Moon has offered one million golden suns for the return of the princess, along with choice lands and a lordship. If we found Princess Star we would be set for life."

"More like a dozen lifetimes." Mike said as he shifted from foot to foot. "With that kind of money I could buy a dozen castles and fill all of them with sexy slave girls from the Ryloth dimension."

"Slavery is illegal in this dimension. Even if you did buy a bunch of slaves from Ryloth you would never be allowed to keep them." Dave pointed out.

"I wasn't being serious ya dingus." Mike grumbled. "Also I'm not so sure about that, I bet those highborn have all sorts of illegal stuff going on during those fancy parties."

"Probably." Dave agreed. "The Highborn get to live the life of luxury while we get stuck guarding this morgue...but it doesn't have to be a boring job" Dave reached into his pocket and pulled out a small mirror that fit in his hand comfortably. "Want to watch some inter-dimensional cable on my mirror phone? Could help us pass the last few hours of our shift. I got the unlimited data plan from my Pixetopia cable provider, this mirror is set to stream every show from every conceivable reality."

"How the hell did you afford that on our crappy salary?" Mike asked as he looked at the mirror in Dave's hand. Magic mirrors were the most common form of communication and entertainment Across nearly all dimensions. Every household had a magic mirror but few people could afford handheld ones.

"Saved up a lot of money for this...also my cousin is dating a pixie, she managed to hook me up with a sweet deal." Dave said proudly as he held the mirror in front of him. "We could watch the season five finale of Grabnar the Wanderer."

"I didn't catch the last episode." Mike stated sadly. "Is Grabnar going to get revenge on his brother for casting the spell of limited equity on him?"

"Not yet, he found the goblet of never ending credits but he discovered that the air-miles hes been earning don't count towards inter-dimensional flights. So he went off and killed a bunch of flight attendants. Then he swore he would rescue Princess Catpower from his evil brothers clutches."

"Such a great show...but we really shouldn't watch it on the job. We could get in huge trouble if the commander saw us watching cable on a mirror phone instead of protecting the morgue." Mike pointed out. "Come to think of it….have you ever been inside the morgue?"

"Why would I want to be inside of the morgue?" Dave asked as he looked behind him where the entrance to the morgue was. "Its full of dead bodies, I generally try to avoid going anywhere with dead bodies."

"Yeah but the Royal guard brought a bunch of bodies here a few weeks ago, said it was from the battle of Saint Olga's, they were going to research them or something." Mike said as he recalled seeing the royal guard wheeling in a bunch of corpses. "Usually this place holds the bodies of Highborn who need to have they're bodies specially prepared for those high class funerals. But now its stuffed with a bunch of bodies awaiting research."

"Why would we research a bunch of dead bodies?" Dave asked curiously. "I swear these royals will waste our taxes on anything."

"Well most of the bodies were from monsters that died in the school." Mike stated. "Maybe they think researching them will help find Princess Star. I have a friend who was in that battle, he said there were some crazy types of monsters. Some people are saying that creatures from the void were even used in the battle."

"Voidborn?" Dave asked incredulously. "My mom used to tell me stories about how Eclipsa used monsters from the Void and the Abyss to reinforce her evil reign. I don't put much stock in those stories, they are about as believable as the Stump on stump-day, stories meant to scare us into being good."

"Maybe." Mike replied. "But there must have been some strange creatures in that battle for them to want to research them. I'm friends with a guy who helped cart those bodies in, he says there was some strange looking monsters being stored in there."

"Interesting..." Dave thought out loud. "I used to live in a village near one of the monster reservations. Back when I was a kid I would sneak past the border to see if I could see a monster up close."

"Did you ever see one?"

"A few times." Dave said casually. "But it was a goblin reservation, everyone seen a goblin at least once. Those little guys run a ton of businesses across the multiverse."

"Yeah, those guys have branched out from Mewni pretty well." Mike said as he rubbed his chin in thought. "Wish more monsters were like them...plus goblin-dogs are awesome."

"Pain in the ass to get one though, Roy really runs you through the ringer before he sells you one."

"Yeah..."Mike agreed. "My point is aside from a few goblins its rare to see a real monster. Want to head on in and take a peek?"

"At dead monsters?" Dave questioned with shock and disgust. "No thanks, why would I want to see a bunch of dead bodies?"

"Would you rather stand around here doing nothing for the rest of our shift?" Mike asked as he gestured towards the door. "What other chances will we have to see monsters up close? Mewmans aren't allowed on reservations without express permission from the Royal family, and the monsters in the wild-lands kill Mewmans like us on sight. This might be our once chance to see an actual monster."

"Yeah but….its still weird...looking at dead bodies..."

"Ill grant you that, but at least its something to do. We still have a few hours left on our shift, might as well stretch our legs and patrol the inside of the morgue."

"We even allowed in there?"

"They gave us a set of keys." Mike pulled them out of his pocket and held the set of silver keys in front of him. "Why else would they give us keys if they didn't expect us to have to go in there?"

"If the commander walks by and sees us not at out posts..."

"We have been here for hours and no one has passed by, this palace is too huge and we are on the lowest level next to the dungeons and the laundry room. Only people I see passing by here are the jailers and the knight of the wash." Mike pointed out. "Even if he didn't see us at our posts all we have to tell him is we heard a strange noise and went off to investigate it. Which last time I checked is our job."

"Fine, but if I catch some disease or something Im blaming you." Dave grumbled as the two of them turned to the door. Mike fumbled with the keys for a bite but managed to open the large dorrs that led into the morgue. The two guardsmen were hit with a wave of cold air as they entered which sent them both to shivering.

"Wow...its freezing in here." Dave grumbled as he activated the lights, bringing light to the dark room. They were in the main hub area where morticians plied their trade. Numerous instruments and tables filled the room which was covered top to bottom in gray tile which gave the place a sterile look.

"Of course its freezing." Mike replied as he walked to the hallway that led to the body storing area. "They embalm bodies here, if it wasn't freezing them this place would stink to high heaven."

"All the more reason for us to not be in here." Dave pointed out. "I swear you get me into the dumbest situations."

"Oh whatever." Mike replied as he led the two down the hallway until they came upon the body storage room. "Here it is." He opened the door and switched on the lights which revealed a room that looked like a hurricane had swept through it.

"What the hell happened here?" Dave asked as he gazed around the room. The body trolleys which should have been neatly placed in rows were thrown around the room without rhyme or reason, several of them had been destroyed, the metal bent and broken and lying around the room in pieces.

Both guards grabbed their standard issue maces. Palace guardsmen were given a variety of weapons, their maces were the primary weapon they were to use to pacify an enemy. Their maces were enhanced to electrically shock anyone struck with them, making them the perfect weapon to bring someone down without killing them.

"Dave….where are the bodies?" Mike asked as he gazed around the room. The air in the room was nothing short of frigid and both guards could see there own breathe as they gazed around the morgue which lacked any bodies.

"They should be here, the bodies weren't meant to be moved for another week at least. No ones been in or out of here for days...something isn't right about this..." Dave walked up and looked at one of the body trolleys, it had been snapped in half roughly as if someone had torn it apart with their bare hands. "You think some of the monsters weren't completely dead? I've heard Septarians are nearly indestructible, they can regenerate from a body part as small as a finger."

"Crap..." Mike grumbled as he looked around the large room. He saw a something on the ground and approached it, he gazed down at the object and saw it was an arm, the flesh was green and frozen but he saw numerous chunks torn out of it. "Looks like...something was eating this arm...do you think something ate all the bodies?"

"There were a lot of bodies in here." Dave muttered as he looked around the enormous room. "It must have been something with a big appetite."

"I'm calling for backup." Mike grabbed a small blue communication crystal from his pocket and squeezed it tightly until it glowed, he held it up to his mouth. "This is unit five to dispatch, come in."

"This is dispatch." a female voice replied from the crystal.

"We need backup at the royal morgue, we have an intruder with a possible monster presence. I repeat there is an intruder and a possible monster presence." Mike replied into the crystal. "Requesting immediate back up."

"Understood unit five." Dispatch replied from the communication crystal. "I have sent out a general call for aid among all units in the palace, backup is incoming. Your instructions are to hold position and make sure nothing leaves the morgue."

"Understood dispatch, unit five out." Mike let go of the communication crystal and stuffed it back into his pocket. "You heard the lady we hold position and make sure nothing escapes. Have your stun mace ready."

"Screw that." Dave replied as he put away his stun mace and grabbed another weapon from his belt. The weapon was a gun made out of a bronze colored metal and was fairly tubular. It was known as a Caster gun, a weapon that shot specialized shells that were magically enchanted. The only weakness of the weapon was that only one shell could be loaded into the weapon."I'm going full lethal on whatever is in here."

"Good idea." Mike replied as he grabbed his own caster gun. "Never used one of these outside of the firing range, should be interesting."

A loud crash echoed throughout the room and both guardsmen turned to their right aiming their guns at the source of the noise. It was a door with the words _lab equipment_ drawn onto it.

"Should we?" Mike asked as he kept his gun leveled at the door.

"Ill open it and run back, you shoot anything that comes out." Dave said as he stealthily walked up to the door. After turning the handle he pushed it open and jumped back, bringing up his gun to bear in front of him.

Neither guard opened fire, instead they stood in disbelief at what they saw. Bones and flesh littered the floor on the equipment room and in the center of it all an enormous mass of pulsating black flesh now stood.

"What the hell is that?"Mike asked as he aimed his gun at the mass of living flesh. "Is that...a mewberty cocoon?"

"I have a sister, her mewberty didn't look anything like that." Dave pointed out as he gazed at the massive black cocoon. "Although I hear the members of the royal family go through mewberty that is way more intense due to their magical abilities."

The cocoon suddenly began to shift and open itself up, revealing a face, the face had no discernible features since it was covered in thick black liquid that had the consistency of syrup.

Mike wasn't sure what to do so he used lines he had rehearsed in the guard academy for dealing with a suspect.

"Halt right there criminal scum!" Mike declared in as bold a tone as he could manage. "You have violated the law by trespassing in this restricted area! Surrender now and we will take you into custody peacefully, we will also be confiscating any contraband or stolen goods you have on your person."

The cocoon opened up even more and a the strange creature that was emerging from the cocoon opened its eyes, revealing eyes as black as night.

Seeing no reaction Dave decided to chime in. "You heard my partner, you have committed crimes against Mewni and her people. Surrender now and-" he was cut off by a blood curtailing screech that the dark figure let out, both guardsmen discharged their caster guns at the creature. Caster guns had a nearly endless amount of ammo variations due to their ability to shoot magical shells, the shells Mike and Dave loaded were enchanted to be incendiary. The two bullets impacted the cocoon and ignited the room causing a massive explosion that sent both guardsmen flying back into the main room of the morgue.

Dave was face down on the ground trying to regain his bearings while Mike stood up and looked at the destruction. The room was smoking as magical blue flames spread out from the impact site. Mike squinted his eyes and saw a figure stepping out from the destruction.

The figure was female and extremely tall, easily over nine feet. Silver hair cascaded down her head and her features were sharp and feral. Her arms ended in claws that looked like they could tear steel apart and behind her an enormous red tail swept back and forth. The thing that stood out most about the figure were her cheeks which had red glowing marks in the shape of clubs adorned upon them.

While Mike was stunned and unable to react to what he was seeing, Dave had managed to pick himself up and load another shell into his caster gun. He quickly aimed and fired another round at the creature. The shell didn't explode with fire, seeing how ineffective fire was Dave had loaded his caster gun with a shell with an ice enchantment. Ice exploded from the shell and covered the creature and most of the room in frigid frost. Both guards let out a breath of relief when they saw the horrible creature frozen in the middle of what appeared to be a miniature glacier, but the momentary relief dissipated when the Ice began to crack.

"Screw this!" Mike yelled as he offered Dave his arm."Lets get the hell out of here!" He hefted his fellow guardsmen up and both of them ran for the door. They barged through the door and ran as fast as they could until they reached the entrance to the morgue, they both ran out and found themselves fact to face with numerous guardsmen and knights outside the morgue, at the head of the soldiers was none other then the captain of the Royal Guard Artoria Mcknight.

"We have to get out of here!" Mike yelled as he and Dave tried to get past the assembled guards. They were both restrained by imposing knights who held the guardsmen by the arms.

Artoria Mcknight strode up to the two of them. "Cease that cowards talk!" She ordered angrily. "As long as you wear those colors you will act as brave soldiers of the Butterfly family!" She pointed at the guardsmen tabards which bore the colors and sigil of the Butterfly family. "Now where is this intruder who dares tread upon within the palaces walls?"

"Its right behind us!" Dave yelled as he continued to struggle against the knights who held him. "We unloaded on it and it just kept coming! Its unstoppable."

"Honor and valor will win out against any monster." Artoria declared, undeterred by the guardsmen warnings. "Everyone pair up two by two, I want shields in front, spears behind, and-" Her orders were cut off by the morgues entrance doors flying off its hinges. The metal door slammed into several knights and guards and sent them flying back. All the other soldiers drew their weapons and looked towards the battered remains of the morgues entrance.

The monster stood hunched over like a feral beast waiting to pounce, its yellow eyes scanned the mass of soldiers in front of it.

"Surrender now enemy of the crown!" Artoria ordered as she drew her sword and pointed it and the monster. "I am Artoria Mcknight of the Mcknight family! I am the captain of the royal guard and shield of the Butterfly family! Know that you face a dozen seasoned knights and guardsmen who have sworn their lives to protect Mewni and its people. Surrender now and you will be shown mercy, resist and be destroyed!"

" **Butterfly..."** The monster growled as it locked its eyes on Artoria. **"Like Star Butterfly…"**

Before anyone could reply the monster was on them, moving at superhuman speeds that the eyes could barely follow. The sounds of battle filled the air and battle cry's and screams of pain rang out in equal measure.

Dave had been knocked down along with Mike after the fighting broke out. Dave saw Mike on the ground laying unconscious next to him. He got up and hefted his friend over his shoulder and ran from the fighting down the palaces halls. He heard screams and the sounds of battle behind him.

He never looked back.

* * *

 **Authors note**

Why have I been gone so long? I had to move from one state to another. That might sound easy but I previously lived in Hawaii, and I moved to Oregon which entailed crossing a massive ocean filled with sharks and god knows what else. I also had to get a new place to live and get a new job which has me working six days a week, so on my one day off all I want to do is sleep and play skyrim.

Sorry if this chapter is messy and has errors, I don't have the energy to go through and correct it again. It took all my willpower just to write the damn thing. My writing skills have probably gotten rusty. If your interested in being a beta/editor, send me a PM, I'm too busy to edit my own work.

I wanted to put more points of view into this chapter but it was already pushing 11,000 words.

Some might wonder why I wrote such an extensive POV about Mike and Dave, two Ocs instead of focusing on Star and Marco more. I wanted to write about two average mewmans to flesh out more about Mewni and the world I'm building. Also writing two random characters was fun.

References, there were many, some obvious, some obscure. Mike and Dave arent completely OC. They were based on characters of the same name from a machinima series called Civil Protection, made by the same guy who made the Freemans Mind series.

I've received messages from readers, many of them were positive or people simply asking me when the next chapter is out. Others were saying that the story is too slow and Marco should have been rescued star and brought her to earth by now. I understand my story is slow going and there are scenes that could be cut out to make the plot move faster. But I want a story that's believable, I want the characters to interact and grow and develop relationships based on events in the story. That takes time, If you want a story where Marco is a badass knight that rescues star in two chapters and goes back to earth and bangs all the girls in his school...go write it, and send me a link because I think I would enjoy reading it. But that's not the type of story that I'M writing.

Also I love your suggestions and Ideas but keep in mind I wont always use them. Im writing a story that I want to tell, letting readers sway my decisions too much will only muddy the waters of the story. Im not saying dont send me suggestions, but keep in mind that Im very much writing the story that I want to tell.

Also one person accused me of making Marco a weeaboo and OP he even accused me of being a weeaboo...Do you even watch the cartoon? Dude Karate chops monsters twice his size without breaking a sweat, hella OP. As for his Weeaboo thing...He goes to karate-con, loves ninjas...if that isn't a bit weebish I don't know what is. Also in the original concept for the show Marco was named Sol and he walked around wearing karate robes all the time and he was obsessed with dragon ball Z. No joke, go look it up.

Well...that's a long rant over with. I have no clue when the next chapter will be done, Im a busy person so...until next time folks. Hope you enjoy the chapter.


	8. Divergence

**I do not own Star vs the forces of evil**

* * *

Moon Butterfly straightened her dress as she sat in the royal carriage as it trudged along the road. She pulled back the silk curtain that covered the window of the carriage and looked out at the new dimension she was in. Hekapoo had described the earth dimension as a backwater filled with weirdos and barbarians, she was pleasantly surprised to see that the earth dimension was quite the opposite.

The carriage was going down the main street of the neighborhood where she would find the parents of Marco Diaz. She gazed at the houses that they passed by and let out a sad sigh. She saw people tending to there lawns, playing various sports she didn't recognize, walking their animals on leashes. A part of her envied them, a simple life free of heavy burdens.

"Pleasant weather isn't it?" River asked as he gazed out the window along with his wife. "Looks like a technology-based dimension don't you think?"

"Yes, it looks like a technology-based dimension," Moon replied as she continued to look outside the window. With an infinite amount of dimension in existence, there were various ways that people across the multiverse lived. Some dimensions relied solely on technology, others solely on magic, but most advanced inter-dimensional civilizations tried to do a bit of both. Mewni itself was a combination of both although magic was the most predominant force on Mewni with it being so common and easy to use for Mewmans.

Moon rarely went to technological dimensions since they were rank with pollution which she was unaccustomed to. She was glad Mewni itself had access to magic and was able to industrialize without causing too much damage to the natural environment.

"Are you ready for this River?" Moon asked as she looked herself over. She chose to wear a dress that was more simple than her traditional queenly garb. She wore a blue dress that lacked the usual pomp and puff of her usual garb, it also lacked the large frills and jewelry that usually adorned her outfit. Her hair was also more relaxed and wasn't done up as it usually was, she chose instead to do it in a large braid that went down her back. Her husband also wore more modest garb, a blue suit that lacked the usual pomp of his kingly garb.

"Of course I'm ready, you can count on me." River said happily as he looked out of the carriage window. "I like the look of this dimension."

It felt strange not being dressed up but for the sake of keeping a low profile, she went along with it. Hekapoo claimed the people of the Earth Dimension rarely traveled beyond their own dimension. Moon wanted to avoid any unnecessary drama so she dressed modestly along with her husband and made several other precautions. Her Royal carriage which was often pulled by magical beasts such as manticores was instead being pulled by unicorns which were enchanted to appear as normal earth horses.

The carriage came to a halt and a royal attendant opened up the side door to let Moon and River out. Moon gazed upon the home of Marco Diaz with some apprehension. The Home itself didn't make her worry, in fact, she found it rather charming. It was a simple two-story house that seemed to be in good shape. The yard was well kept although Moon found herself slightly perplexed by it, the front yard had many cacti planted around it along with many strange sculptures made out of various materials. The sculptures gave Moon pause, they were strange things, taking on numerous geometric shapes. It reminded her of some pieces from an inter-dimensional art exhibition she went to once.

Moon chose to focus her attention on the house once again as she and River walked along the pathway that led to the front door. Upon reaching the door she took a deep breath and knocked several times on the wooden door. Several seconds passed until the door opened up revealing two humans.

Moon saw a man and a woman, the woman was fair with light skin, auburn hair, and green eyes. However, her observations of the woman were short-lived when she viewed the male who towered over the woman, Upon gazing at this man she knew she had the right household, his brown hair, brown eyes, and brown skin all matched those of the boy she had seen Star with. The only difference was that this man was tall and muscular to the point where she wondered if he was a warrior in this dimension, whereas his son had seemed rather unremarkable in terms of height or muscle.

"How can we help you?" The woman asked as her gaze drifted between Moon and River.

Moon realized that her observations may have lasted too long and cleared her throat quickly before speaking.

"Are you two the parents of a Marco Diaz?" Moon asked respectfully, receiving an affirmative nod from them she continued. "We would like to ask you some questions regarding your son..."

* * *

Dr. Bliss sat in the corner of the sophomore classroom and watched as Miss Skullnick gave the morning announcements. Today would be the first normal day of school after the chaos of the last few weeks had died down, it would also be her first-day offering to counsel to the student body. Most of the counseling was voluntary however there were several students who would be required to attend sessions with her.

"Good morning class." Miss Skullnick greeted as she stood in front of her class. "As you know this is our first day back after the brief hiatus this school had after all you assumed your true forms, those forms being that of wild deranged animals. Do you have any questions before we begin the day?"

Alfonzo raised his hand.

"Yes Alfonzo, what is your question?"

"Why is it that no matter how many years we advance in this school system you're always our homeroom teacher?" Alfonzo asked curiously.

"Because the school system wants to maximize my suffering." Miss Skullnick responded. "Any other questions?"

Seeing no one else raise their hands Miss Skullnick decided to proceed. "First off is announcements." Miss Skullnick began. "Because the state has realized that you are all insane they have assigned us a psychologist who will be sitting in with us today. I want you to give Dr. Bliss the respect that you refuse to give me."

"Good morning everyone." Doctor Bliss greeted as she stood up from her chair. "My name as you all know is Dr. Bliss, I hope to get to know all of you very well in the coming weeks. I'm here to offer my services to any of you who might need them. My office is open at all hours during the school day as well as several hours after school ends. If that doesn't suit any of your schedules I'm also able to do home visits as long as you clear it with your parents."

"Thank you, Dr. Bliss." Miss Skullnick said as she regained control of the classroom. "All of you will be required to attend counseling with Dr. Bliss since it was this class that started the reign of chaos that brought this school to the edge of destruction."

"Please don't blame the children." Dr. Bliss intoned to Miss Skullnick. "They were all traumatized by recent events and lashed out. I am here to help them channel their anger into more constructive things and work through their feelings."

"Good luck with that," Skullnick replied, unimpressed with the doctor's speech. She turned to the class. "Hear that boys and girls? The doctor here is going to try and make you all sane. So listen to her otherwise all of you will be sent to the funny farm."

"Please don't use the terms, boys, and girls." One of the students in the back said. "Although I am biologically a human female I prefer to identify as elf-kin."

"God I hate this generation..." Miss Skullnick muttered as she turned to Dr. Bliss. "Good luck, they're your problem now. I have bear mace and a stun gun in my desk drawer that you can use if they get out of control."

* * *

Janna Ordonia casually flipped through the text messages on her phone as she relaxed on a comfy therapists couch in the school councilors office. Sitting in a comfy armchair across from her was Dr. Bliss who was writing down notes in a small notepad.

"I would prefer if you put away your smartphone." Dr. Bliss requested patiently. "It defeats the purpose of this session if you aren't participating."

"Want to get into my head?" Janna asked as she lifted her gaze from her phone and leveled it at the doctor. "Trying to psychoanalyze me? Find out what makes me tick? Brainwash me into becoming a filthy normie?"

"Of course not." Dr. Bliss replied simply. "I'm simply here to help you get through this difficult time. Losing a friend is a terrible thing, as I understand it you were very close to Marco Diaz."

"I'm doing fine without you," Janna replied, her tone cold enough to freeze hell over. "Don't pretend as if you care. I'm nothing to you, Marco was nothing to you. You're just doing this to get a paycheck."

"If I wanted to get rich I wouldn't be a child psychologist." Dr. Bliss responded. "There's a lot more money in being a psychologist for rich people down in Los Angeles. I got into this line of work because I want to help young people like you work through your problems."

"Well, I've been working through my problems just fine without you." Janna replied. "So theirs no point in us talking. Hell, you never even met Marco, how the hell are you supposed to help me get over losing a friend like him?"

"I've read his file." Dr. Bliss pulled out a file from a manila folder she had on the coffee table next to her armchair. "An amazing young man with such a promising future. Straight A student since kindergarten, 4.0-grade point average, involved in numerous extracurricular activities, president of the karate club and an indispensable member of the Echo Creek High school chess team, and a successful student mentor." She looked up at Janna. "That last bit is the most interesting. It says here he has been a student mentor to both you and a Greason. Oskar had been held back for two years and showed all signs of repeating the same grade over and over. But after being under Marcos mentorship he has become a fairly good student, his grades are average but his behavioral record shows major improvements. Then theirs you..."

"You expect me to spill my guts out to you because you've read Marcos file?" Janna asked incredulously. "Why should I trust you?"

"I can't force you to trust me, Janna." Dr. Bliss replied as she relaxed into her chair. "But spilling your guts as you put it can be helpful. Getting all those bottled up feelings and secrets out in the open and discussing them with someone is helpful to a person's mental health. If it makes you feel any better doctor-patient confidentiality means that I would lose my medical license if I ever revealed anything you tell me when we are in a session like this."

"Well...I don't have much to say." Janna began slowly, measuring each of her words. "Marco is my friend...and now he's gone. Not much you or anyone else can do about it. I don't see how talking about it makes it better."

"My main goal here is to help you sort through your feeling in a productive way." Dr. Bliss said as she opened up another file. "I've read your file as well. You were quite the troublemaker for a long time. Pranks, playing hooky, getting into a few fights as well. You have quite a file here."

"You're exaggerating," Janna replied casually. "I did a few harmless pranks."

"Well lets read about some of these harmless pranks shall we?" Dr. Bliss asked as she flipped through the file. "Here is one from Principal Skeeves. _'Someone replaced all the pens and pencils in the school with crayons, I suspect it was Janna Ordonia.'_ quite the accomplishment."

"The locks in this school are super easy to break open. Took me all of an hour to do. But as you can see no one was hurt."

Dr. Bliss turned to another page. "Here is one from Miss Skullnick. _'Every student in my class has been calling me Miss Skulldick all day, I suspect Janna Ordonia paid them too.'_ "

"All it cost was one dollar a person, it was totally worth it."

"Another one from Miss Skullnick. _'This morning I found a bloody glove in my desk drawer and Janna Ordonia tried to convince me I committed a murder. I think she is the real murderer.'_...Do I even want to know the truth behind this one?"

"It was food coloring mixed with water and cornstarch. It's not my fault that lady can't take a joke, she wasted all that time calling CSI for that."

"Well here's another one from Principal Skeeves. _'Janna Ordonia told me there was an abandoned infant in the women's bathroom, When I went to save the child I accidentally saw Miss Skullnick on the toilet. The abandoned infant also turned out to be a child's doll.'_ "

"I didn't plan that last part out, it was just an unlucky coincidence. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy."

"Here's one from Miss Skullnick. _'I hit myself in the head with my phone.'_...I dont get that one..."

Janna laughed. "That one actually took a while. I had to slip more and more nickels into her phone case until she got used to the weight. Then one day I just took them all out. She hit herself in the face so hard with it that she had a bruise."

"Another from Principal Skeeves. _'I have two boxes of business cards in my desk and someone switched them out with new cards that had my job title changed from principal to horse whisperer, the cards also claimed I was a security threat and sexual predator. I have no Idea how many of these I have handed out. I suspect Janna Ordonia did this.'_

"It's his own fault for having business cards, the guys a school principal," Janna replied. "What the hell does he need business cards for?"

"I could do this all day Janna." Dr. Bliss held up the thick folder. "The only reason you weren't expelled is that they couldn't prove you actually did all those things. There was only circumstantial evidence at best."

"Because I'm that good." Janna replied smugly. "Those are just the ones I did on Miss Skullnick and Principal Skeeves. I've been pranking my classmates for years. I once released a swarm of rats in the girl's locker room after cheerleading practice, they all ran out of the locker room wearing their birthday suits. I also once put all of Brittney's makeup into the school vending machine, she had to fork out over a hundred dollars in quarters to get it all back and it took her over two hours." Janna looked over at Dr. Bliss. "You got something against pranks?"

"While I don't agree with your use of pranks I do find it interesting that the number of pranks you committed dropped significantly after Marco became your student mentor."

"Having friends ate into my time." Janna admitted. "I didn't have much time for pranks on the school, I did pull numerous pranks on Marco. He was always a good sport about it."

"So he approved of your pranks?' Dr. Bliss asked curiously.

"I wouldn't say he approved of them but he never got angry about it...not seriously angry anyway." Janna said as she leaned back into the couch and reminisced. "One time I used a simple macro on his computer which made the word Mud appear anytime he tried to type his name, another time I sneaked into his room at night with a hockey mask and woke him up, he thought Jason Voorhees was trying to abduct him. And this other time I sneaked into his room and swapped out all his red hoodies with pink ones."

"Did Marco enjoy these pranks of yours?" Dr. Bliss asked as she began to write notes down in her notebook again.

"As I said, he was a good sport. Sometimes he would even laugh about it afterward...hearing him laugh would make it all worth it...He's one of the only people who understand me." Janna realized how much she had been talking and turned to glare at Dr. Bliss who was writing down notes. "You tricked me!"

"I tricked you?" Dr. Bliss asked, not bothering to look up from her notes.

"Yeah, you got me talking about my pranks because you knew I was proud of them, then that lulled me into a false sense of security and made me open up about my feelings for Marco."

"Feelings for Marco?" The doctor asked with peak interest. "Care to elaborate on those?"

Janna got up from the couch and began to pace back and forth in front of the doctor. "Oh you think you're so fucking clever don't you? Well, I'm not talking anymore, we are going to just sit here until this session is over. You can force me to take these sessions but you can't force me to talk or cooperate." Janna walked over to a nearby wall where Dr. Bliss had her degrees. "I bet Bliss isn't even your real surname. And you graduated from George Fox University? I bet that's some backwater party school."

Dr. Bliss wasn't phased by Janna's insults and simply put away her notepad. "If you don't want to talk about Marco then that's fine if you don't want to talk at all that's also fine. I'm not here to force you to say anything Janna, this isn't an interrogation. I'm here to offer you a safe place where you can discuss your feeling in a non-threatening and private environment. As I mentioned before your secrets are safe with me, you can talk to me about anything. Or if you don't want to talk we can simply sit here and relax. I could make us some tea, I have a bookshelf filled with books that teens in your age group enjoy, I even have a toy chest."

"A toy chest?" Janna asked not believing what she was hearing. "Do I look like I'm five?"

"Sometimes toys can be helpful, also they aren't toys meant only for little kids. There are plenty of things that someone your age would enjoy. They also help when dealing with traumatizing experiences."

"Like when you have to show on the doll where somebody touched you?" Janna asked as she gazed at a doll peeking out of the chest.

"No, I have a special doll for that over there." Dr. Bliss pointed to a single doll laying on the shelf next to her bookcase.

"Only one? You should get more."

"You only need one doll to non-verbally describe where any inappropriate actions take place."

"Not if theirs ever a gang rape." Janna said casually as she took a deep breath and looked at the clock. She still had another forty-five minutes left in the session. "Fine, I'll have some tea, actually make that a hot chocolate." She looked over at the toy chest. "Do you have any legos in there?"

Ten minutes later Janna was sitting across from Dr. Bliss sipping hot chocolate and assembling Legos on the coffee table in the middle of the room.

"If you don't mind me asking, what are you building?" Dr. Bliss asked as she watched Janna work on a Lego creation.

"A skull fortress." Janna replied as she laid down several more bricks. "You had a lot of black and grey pieces so its all I could think of."

"Looks like you know what you're doing."

"That's because Friday night is Lego night." Janna said as she laid down several more lego bricks.

"That's fun, you and your parents have a lego night?" Dr. Bliss asked as she sipped her cup of tea.

"Don't really spend much time with my parents, they are both workaholics who run an antique shop downtown." Janna responded nonchalantly. "I don't get home until dinner time. My friends and I spend every day after school together doing stuff and we spend the weekends together. That is we used to hang out until..."

"You don't have to mention it if you don't want to." Dr. Bliss said in a caring voice. "As I said before this isn't an interrogation."

"I might as well tell you since you'll probably figure it out eventually." Janna let out a frustrated sigh. "Oskar, Ferguson, Alfonzo, and I used to live our lives by this." Janna reached over to where her backpack was and pulled out a slim notebook with a red cover. She handed it over to Dr. Bliss who accepted it and looked at it curiously.

The cover of the notebook read.

 _Marcos guide to maximizing fun and productivity_

"He had our entire week planned out perfectly." Janna said as she turned back to her lego creation. "On school days we would quickly finish our homework in the school library and then depending on the day we would do numerous activities. Weekends were always the best. Fridays we would finish our weekend homework as usual in the library, then we would all go to Marcos house just have fun. Spend the whole weekend just...enjoying life. Now I wonder if we'll ever get to do that again..." Janna looked up at the clock and saw that a great deal of time had flown by and her time with the doctor was up. "Looks like times up doc."

"Indeed it is." Dr. Bliss said as she looked at the clock. "I would love to continue this but I still need to meet with several of your classmates before the day is over."

Janna quickly gathered up her things and headed towards the door but not before turning to the doctor one last time.

"Bit of advice for you doc, if you think I need therapy...you haven't seen anything until you've met Ferguson and Oskar."

"Do you think so lowly of your friends?"

"They are my friends, I love them like brothers." Janna said as she looked back at the doctor. "But that doesn't mean they aren't freaks. Oskar is an artistic lunatic, Alfonzo is the king of all nerds, and Ferguson is a self-deluded maniac who fancies himself to be a playboy when the truth is he couldn't fuck his way out of a wet dream. I wish I could see what your sessions with them will be like."

* * *

"Foul Beast!' Artoria yelled as she backed away from the monster in front of her. The halls of the palace ran red with the blood of her soldiers as she fought a losing battle against the monster that had appeared from the depths of the morgue. All around her broken bodies and torn suits of armor lay on the ground, the signs of a massacre.

Artoria raised her blade in time to stop the monster's claws from rending her flesh. She couldn't help but marvel at the beast before her. It was definitely female judging by its lithe feminine form but it was also a macabre spectacle. Its skin was a pale sickly white, its limbs were long and thin with very little muscle mass suggesting it was malnourished. Each of its arms ended with large claws. The most disturbing part to Artoria was its resemblance to a Mewman, it was as if someone had taken a mewman royal and corrupted it. Its thin face had thin features but what stood out to Artoria most were the glowing red clubs adorning the monsters cheeks suggesting it had royal blood in it.

' _Mewman or not she will die by my blade.'_ Artoria thought as she lunged forward with a counterattack. The creature deftly swatted away her blade and attempted to counterattack with a swipe of its massive claws. Seeing no time to block Artoria instead ducked under the swipe and backed away from the creature before it could deliver a followup attack."Is that the best you've got? I've fought mudcrab's fiercer than you!" She declared as she used her free hand to pull out a caster pistol from her belt and fired a shot at the monster. Blinding light filled the room and magical fire engulfed the monster and the force of the explosion helped Artoria put even more distance between herself and the creature as it pushed her further away.

Despite the force of the shot, the monster emerged from the flames without so much as an indicator of damage upon its terrible form.

"Not bad, but I will still prevail over you!" It was a bluff, in truth she had never faced an opponent like this. She was a member of the venerable Mcknight family, one of the oldest noble families in all of Mewni. It was the Mcknights who created the very foundations of chivalry and knighthood. Her family provided the crown with the most professional soldiers in the kingdom. Artoria was destined from birth to serve the Butterfly family, as there had always been a Mcknight serving in the royal guard since the guard had been formed. Her entire life she had spent training in numerous forms of combat in preparation for serving the royal family. Mastering sword, bow, lance, horsemanship, and all manner of caster and advanced technomancy arms. Yet this monstrous opponent overcame it all.

Artoria summoned her magical energy from within her body and felt it envelop her. She preferred to prevail over her enemies through the strength of arms, however as the daughter of a noble family with a bloodline linked directly to the royal family she could call upon magic better than most mewmans. Blue magic surrounded her form as two new sets of arms emerged from her sides an a pair of large steel colored butterfly-like wing emerged from her back.

' _I can't keep fighting her here.'_ Artoria thought as she gazed around the area. The halls of the royal citadel were not an ideal place for a battle of magic. There wasn't enough space to use powerful magic without getting hit by one's own spell and she dare not cause damage to the residence of the royal family.

Magic gathered in Artoria's hands as she began summoning the magical energy within her body. The monster across from her charged at her with reckless abandon which brought a smile to Artorias lips.

'Perfect.' She thought as the best charged her. Magic rippled outward from her body and engulfed the two of them in bright light. When the light faded they were no longer in the halls of the royal palace but instead in an open green field right outside of the capital city. The capitals walls could be seen from their location but they were far away enough that no innocent bystanders would get hurt. The monster shifted its gaze to its new surroundings before letting out a roar of anger and charged at Artoria once more.

Artoria used her wings to fly up in the air away from the creatures grasp. She hovered above the beast and used one of her free hands to grab a communication crystal from her belt and held it up to her mouth.

"This is Royal commander Artoria Mcknight calling all units. We have a rampaging monster south of the capital. I want all units to converge on my location, that includes army units, knights, titans, and airships. All guards and units from the second legion are to remain in the capital and put it on lockdown." Once her orders were confirmed she shifted her gaze to the monster below her who roared angrily at the flying knight.

"In about five minutes you will feel the full might of Mewni's army." Artoria declared. "While I'm tempted to fight you myself I can't allow the risk of a creature like you running free if I were to be defeated. So I think we will simply wait here until the army arrives.

Much to her surprise, the monster let out a scream of pain as black tendrils erupted from the creatures back. They shifted and formed into a pair of black demonic wings. Before Artoria could bring up her defense the creature shot up at her land slashed her across the chest followed up by a swipe from the creature's tail that sent Artoria crashing to the ground below.

Artoria let out a scream of pain and frustration. She summoned magic from within herself and felt the healing magic course through her mending her wounds. She picked herself up and prepared her weapons as she gazed at the flying form of the monster above her. With a chuckle, she realized that in a matter of seconds the positions had switched.

"Looks like I get to fight you myself after all. Five minutes until the army arrives...I wonder if I can beat you before that?"

* * *

Meanwhile with Star and Marco

Just kidding there is no Star and Marco POV...Please put away the torches and pitchforks as I explain.

 **Authors note**

There is no pov for Star and Marco or anyone else, this is my very shortest chapter ever at a mere 6000 words. There was no way to add other segments to this chapter without making the flow weird. I have a Star and Marco section already written that was supposed to be in this chapter but it would have left you all on a terrible cliffhanger, so I'm saving that for the next chapter when it eventually comes out. So my choices were wait a long time and release a crazy long chapter that flowed like crap or release a smaller one to help satiate you guys for a little bit. I chose the latter. I have another reason for this which will be explained below.

I understand its been a long wait between updates so I will explain my reasons.

1\. I write for enjoyment If I'm not enjoying writing something there's no point in me doing it. I'm not getting paid nor do I have infinite free time. Also, I feel that when I write something I don't enjoy writing the quality suffers which would mean you guys probably wouldn't enjoy what I've written.

2\. I have a full-time job which is exhausting and makes me want to spend my free time resting.

3\. Inspiration is sort of dead for this story.

4\. I want to wait until the last season of the show finishes. The final season is coming out soon and I would like to wait until it ends before making any lore intensive changes in my story. I barely managed to bring Meterora back without doing a complete retcon. Also hopefully a new season of the show will inspire me again. I was comfotrable releasing this chapter only because nothing in it happens that would be effected by the shopw. This chapter was pure setup whether it be the setupo for Moons meeting with marcos parents, Jannas character development or the battle on Mewni. This chaopter was setup while the next will be Star and Marco focused with some action from this chapters setups.

With that, the story is on hold. I might write a few other things. Recently an anime/Light novel series by the name of overlord has sparked my interest so I might write a fanfiction about that, the Overlord fanfiction section is even smaller than the Star vs one...

Anyway, that's enough from me. I'll see you all later. Hopefully, the next season of Star vs will be a good one.

Also I have no idea whats going on in my review section, all the arguements about stuff people talking about the ant man movies and thanos...I dont mind if you argue in my review section but try to keep it civil and about Star vs the forces of evil at least.


End file.
